More Americans Live in Poverty Than Reside in the State of California
Reverend David Beckmann, President, Bread for the World
(Washington, DC, Friday, January 13, 2017) – In the United States, 1 in 6 children struggles with hunger, and 43 million Americans live in poverty. In fact, more Americans live in poverty than reside in the state of California.
In advance of his inauguration as the 45th President of the United States, Bread for the World sent a letter to President-Elect Donald Trump urging him to take meaningful steps during his first year in office that will cut hunger in half in the U.S. and around the world.
The letter outlines some of the steps President Trump can take to cut hunger in half. These include:
- Job creation and his infrastructure initiative, with a particular emphasis in communities that have high levels of persistent or concentrated poverty.
- Working with Congress to create a health care system that keeps people food secure and out of poverty – at the same time the Affordable Care Act is repealed.
- Immigration. Violence, hunger, and poverty push people from their homelands to the U.S. Addressing the push factors that cause people to uproot themselves and risk their lives will reduce immigration.
- Global development. World hunger is a threat to global security. In his first year in office, Trump can strengthen the U.S. government’s response to states on the brink of disaster.
- Criminal justice reform. With more than two million people incarcerated in our country, at an annual cost of $45 billion, support for criminal justice reform has grown on both sides of the aisle.
- Global nutrition. Malnutrition permanently stunts the bodies and brains of one-fourth of the children in developing countries, and recent knowledge has given us inexpensive ways of reducing malnutrition.