We’re proud to collaborate with The Nation in sharing insightful journalism related to income inequality in America. The following is an excerpt from Nation contributor Greg Kaufmann’s “This Week in Poverty” column.
Regular readers of my work know the statistics: more than 46 million Americans living below the poverty line on less than $18,000 annually for a family of three. More than 1 in 3 of us — 106 million Americans — living on less than $36,000 a year, struggling to afford the basics like food, housing, healthcare and education.
Meanwhile, food stamps are under attack by both Republicans and Democrats despite the fact that 50 million Americans are struggling with hunger; cash assistance (TANF) reaches only 27 of every 100 families living in poverty; the minimum wage is a poverty wage, and there is a proliferation of low-wage work.
Our nation could reverse these trends if we wanted to — that’s one of the key motivations for The Nation in creating this blog — that it’s simply not true that “we don’t know what to do about poverty.”
Below are just some of the good groups that can help you get informed and get involved in the fight against poverty. If you were to regularly follow even a half dozen of them, you would probably know more about poverty than most Members of Congress.
Check them out, sign up for their e-mails and get involved:
Children, Parents and Families
Broader, Bolder Approach to Education
Children’s Defense Fund
Children’s HealthWatch
First Focus
Family Independence Initiative
Legal Momentum
National Partnership for Women and Families
National Women’s Law Center
Healthcare, Disability and Aging
The Arc
Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities Social Security Task Force
National Council on Aging
Housing and Homelessness
Institute for Children, Poverty, and HomelessnessHome Defenders League
National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty
National Low Income Housing Coalition
Occupy Our Homes
Hunger
Center for Hunger-Free Communities/Witnesses to Hunger
Food Research and Action Center
New York City Coalition Against Hunger
Share Our Strength
Justice and Courts
Center for Court Innovation
Race and Civil Rights
Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights
Poverty & Race Research Action Council
Research
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
Center for Economic and Policy Research
Demos
Economic Policy Institute
National Employment Law Project
Urban Institute: MetroTrends
Workers’ Rights
Caring Across Generations
Coalition of Immokalee Workers
Interfaith Worker Justice
Jobs with Justice
Restaurant Opportunities Centers (ROC) United
Multi-issue Groups
Alliance for a Just Society
Center for Community Change
Center for Law and Social Policy
Coalition on Human Needs
Community Action Partnership
Half In Ten
Jewish Council for Public Affairs
LIFT
National Council of La Raza
National Nurses United
NETWORK
PolicyLink
Progressive States Network
RESULTS
The Rural Assistance Center
Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law
Spotlight on Poverty
Western Center on Law & Poverty
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Greg Kaufmann is a freelance writer and Nation contributor covering poverty in America, primarily through his blog, This Week in Poverty. His work has also been featured on MSNBC’s Melissa Harris-Perry show, CBSNews.com, NPR.org, WashingtonPost.com, Common Dreams and Alternet. He serves as an adviser for the Economic Hardship Reporting Project. |
