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Take Action to Fight Poverty: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

November 22, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Here’s an article that approaches poverty reduction, job creation, and economic growth from a different perspective—More Jobs, Less Pollution: Growing the Recycling Economy in the U.S. 

The article, prepared by the Tellus Institute, suggests that if we all recycle and compost more, we will not only reduce pollution and its unhealthy consequences, but also create more jobs.   According to their analysis, more than 2 million new jobs would be created in the recycling and composting industry if Americans composted and recycled 75% of our waste by 2030.

What do you think of this as a poverty-reduction strategy?

Filed Under: Pathways out of Poverty Tagged With: ,

Building Pathways Out of Poverty

March 25, 2011 By Leave a Comment

On Friday, March 18, 2011, United Way of the Bay Area hosted an Academic Summit to foster discussion around the root causes of poverty.  The event, co-sponsored by United Way of Silicon Valley and  the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research, focused on programs and policies that build pathways out of poverty.  The event drew over 100 participants from diverse backgrounds, including scholars, policy makers, and practitioners.

Participants of the Summit heard and discussed local cutting-edge viewpoints on the causes and solutions for poverty.  The program was designed not to present just one approach to the issue, but to showcase a range of divergent and promising ideas.

During the Summit, speakers and participants were interviewed about their aspirations for community. Below is a clip of those interviews:

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Summary of speakers:

  • Linda Shelby of Bank of America / Merrill Lynch told her own inspiring story of growing up in rural California and how teachers and others helped her find opportunities.
  • David Grusky of Stanford challenged us with the notion that reducing poverty is not the job of the social safety net but rather the role of labor markets, and that we must correct structural problems that deny people access to training and opportunities. Read more about David’s work.
  • Olivia Calderon of the New America Foundation explained how our existing policies to help the poor actually hold them back, and offered a set of bold policy proposals to help people build income and wealth. Read more about Asset Building.
  • Woody Powell of Stanford shared his research revealing that non-profit organizations that create strategic plans and actually use them are far more effective. Read more about Woody and his work.
  • Leslie Medine of On the Move told vivid stories to demonstrate that environment matters, and that people who have the right support and resources will change the direction of their lives. Learn more about Leslie and V.O.I.C.E.S.
  • Regina Stanback Stroud of Skyline College shared her deep belief that education is liberation, that our higher education system has provided many people with a path out of poverty but is now in danger of being dismantled, and that this time of fiscal and economic challenges is precisely the moment to look forward and innovate. Read more about SparkPoint San Mateo Center at Skyline College.

United Way of the Bay Area will continue its work and planning to cut poverty in the Bay Area in half by the year 2020.  Success will require partners from all sectors to join us in achieving this audacious goal.

 

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Changing The Odds For The Next Generation

July 20, 2010 By Leave a Comment

According to a new report posted on the Urban Institute almost half of all children born into poverty remain in poverty throughout their lives. In their report on Childhood Poverty Persistence the authors point out that “49 percent of American babies born into poor families will be poor for at least half their childhoods…Among children who are not poor at birth, only 4 percent will be “persistently” poor as children.”

As our economy struggles to recover from the Great Recession, which know has meant rising levels of children living in poverty, reports like this are discouraging. In California alone, nearly a quarter of the state’s children could be living beneath the federal poverty line due to the recent recession.

Almost of half of all children born into poverty remain in poverty as adults

The report suggests that helping provide families with multiple supports such as income assistance, child care subsidies, and opportunities for education can help mitigate the chance of passing poverty on to the next generation. This is very much in keeping with our strategies for poverty reduction through programs like our SparkPoint Centers which combine multiple programs over time, to help families.

Some of the report’s other findings include:

  • 13 percent of all children (40 percent of black children and 8 percent of white children) are born poor.
  • 37 percent of children live in poverty for at least a year before reaching age 18.
  • 10 percent of children spend at least half their childhood years (9 years or longer) in poverty.
  • Black children are 9 times more likely than white children to be poor for at least three-quarters of their childhoods — 18 percent versus 2 percent.
  • 69 percent of black children and 31 percent of white children who are poor at birth stay poor for least half their childhoods.

Caroline Ratcliffe and Signe-Mary McKernan, the authors of “Childhood Poverty Persistence: Facts and Consequences, go on to say that “Because poverty status at birth is linked to worse adult outcomes, targeting resources to children born into poverty and their families would help particularly vulnerable people. “

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