Sec. 31401. Findings

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Congress finds the following: The persistence of poverty, and especially intergenerational poverty, in America can be seen as a deep, structural problem that implicates our value system and our educational and economic institutions. Poverty may be defined as the lack of basic necessities of life such as food, shelter, clothing, health care, education, economic security, and economic opportunity. Policy initiatives and many safety net programs addressing poverty have not kept pace with the needs of millions of Americans.

The lack of an equitable distribution of housing choices across the country leads to isolation and concentrated poverty. The number of Americans living in poverty rose by over 2.6 million from 2009 to 2010 (U.S. Census Bureau, September 2011). There were 46.2 million Americans living in poverty in 2010, consisting of 15.1 percent of the American people (U.S. Census Bureau, September 2011). Poverty has a disproportionate impact on minority communities in America with 27.4 percent of African Americans, 26.6 percent of Hispanics, 12.1 percent of Asian Americans, and 9.9 percent of Whites living in poverty in the United States in 2010 (U.S.

Census Bureau, September 2011). In 2010 a family of 4 was considered poor under the U.S. Census Bureau’s official measure if the family’s income was below $22,314. The economic consequences of poverty in the United States are estimated to be at least $500 billion per year (Center for American Progress, 2007). Children who grow up in poverty experience higher crime rates, decreased productivity, and higher health costs over their lives (Center for American Progress, 2007). 3,500,000 seniors lived in poverty in 2010 (U.S.

Census Bureau, 2011). Young Americans, ages 18–24, experience a higher poverty rate than the national average (U.S. Census Bureau, 2011). 16,400,000 children lived in poverty in 2010—more than one in every five American children (U.S. Census Bureau, 2011). Almost 35 percent of African-American children and over 30 percent of Hispanic children lived in poverty in 2009 (U.S. Census Bureau, 2011). The 46,180,000 of Americans in poverty in 2010 was the largest number yet recorded in the 52 years for which poverty estimates are available (U.S.

Census Bureau, 2011). The United States overseas territories have high levels of poverty and varying access to Federal anti-poverty programs. Poverty rates in 2009 for people over 18 were 41.4 percent in Puerto Rico, 53.7 percent in Guam, 65.1 percent in the United States Virgin Islands, 66.6 percent in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and 52.6 percent in American Samoa. Individuals and families in poverty are more socially vulnerable to natural disasters, extreme weather and impacts of climate change and have greater difficulty preparing for, responding to and recovering from such events (Oxfam America, 2009).

Children who live in families who fall into poverty for even short periods of time are at greater risk of a lifetime of lower earnings, lower educational attainment, and increased reliance on public services and increased rates of incarceration (First Focus, 2008). It is estimated that the additional 3 million children who were forced into poverty due to the recession of 2008, resulted in $35 billion in economic losses annually, and will cause at least $1.7 trillion in economic losses to the United States during their lifetimes (First Focus, 2008).

Reducing poverty, especially child poverty, not only reduces costs for Federal, State, and local social services and benefits programs, but also increases tax revenue at all levels of government (Children’s Defense Fund, 2009). The House of Representatives, on January 22, 2008, has resolved that it is the sense of Congress that the United States should set a national goal of cutting poverty in half over the next 10 years.