I was off this week so just a short post today. I’ll resume regular posts next Friday.

Below is a list of some of the groups working every day to eradicate poverty. It’s by no means exhaustive, but I encourage you to check them out and get involved. These groups and others are doing their best to generate the kind of popular and political will that helped reduce poverty by 43 percent between 1964–1973.

Finally, a personal thanks: this blog has now been running for three months and reader participation has been fantastic. Your comments have been invaluable, whether critical or supportive of the ideas expressed in the posts. I hope this will continue to be a space where you can find ways to get involved, voice your ideas about poverty and engage in respectful debate.

Get Involved/Learn

Center on Budget and Policy Priorities

Center for Community Change

Center for Law and Social Policy

Children’s Defense Fund

Children’s HealthWatch

Coalition on Human Needs


Coalition of Immokalee Workers

First Focus


Food Research and Action Center


Half In Ten


Institute for Children, Poverty, and Homelessness

Jewish Council for Public Affairs

Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights

Legal Momentum

LIFT


National Council on Aging

National Council of La Raza

National Employment Law Project

National Low Income Housing Coalition

National Partnership for Women and Families

National Women’s Law Center

Poverty & Race Research Action Council

Results

Spotlight on Poverty

Western Center on Law & Poverty


Witnesses to Hunger/Center for Hunger-Free Communities

Vital Statistics

US poverty (less than $22,314 for a family of four): 46 million people, 15.1 percent of population.

Children in poverty: 16.4 million, 22 percent of all children.

Number of US children in low-income families (less than $44,700 for family of four): 31.9 million.

Deep poverty (less than $11,157 for a family of four): 20.5 million people, 6.7 percent of population.

Increase in deep poverty, 1976–2010: doubled—3.3 percent of population to 6.7 percent.

Poverty rate for people in single mother families: 42 percent.

Increase in number of Americans in poverty, 2006-2010: 27 percent.

Increase in US population, 2006-2010: 3.3 percent.

Impact of public policy, 2010: without government assistance, poverty would have been twice as high—nearly 30 percent of population.

Impact of public policy, 1964–1973: poverty rate fell by 43 percent.

Number of Americans “deep poor,” “poor” or “near poor”: 100 million, or 1 in 3.

This Week in Poverty posts every Friday morning. Please comment below. You can also e-mail me at WeekInPoverty@me.com.