Poverty:  The New Search for Solutions

Posted by on June 15, 2006

The Wall Street Journal is running a series on poverty, and in yesterday's first installment, "backpack clubs" to feed hungry kids on weekends were the focus. Children are given backpacks full of healthy food each Friday at school to make meals at home. The backpacks are "an emergency fix to a problem that has defied solution, despite a rising ecoonomy and tens of billions of dollars of government spending on nutrition programs." According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, 11.9 percent of U.S. households -- 13.5 million -- were uncertain they could afford to feed their families. Second Harvest, the network of food pantries throughout the nation, reports that a large number of those using pantries and emergency kitchens are working families who aren't making ends meet. High heating bills, gas prices and medical bills seem to be major contributors to the problem.

Today's second installment explores who is at fault. Not surprisingly, no one seems to agree on an answer. Even the very definition of poverty is up for debate. Nevertheless, while the problem of persistent poverty can be debated endlessly at the federal level, the effects of poverty cannot be avoided by urban leaders. So the search for solutions continues.

You'll have to grab a copy of WSJ to read the series unless you are an online subscriber. Even print subscribers can't access the paper online without paying an additional fee. (Someone has figured out how to make money online.)