Serving the Hungry - Fall 2015 Newsletter
From Paycheck to Pantry: Hunger in Working America
New Report by Feeding America® and Oxfam America® Uncovers the Hardships Many Working Families Face
to Put Enough Food on the Table
More than half (54%) of all
households seeking charitable food
assistance from the Feeding America
network include at least one member
who had employment in the past
year, according to a study released
by Feeding America® and Oxfam
America®. All told, approximately
25 million people live in these
households. The study details the
challenges many working Americans
face in providing enough food for
their households. Feeding America
is the nation’s largest domestic
hunger-relief organization and Oxfam
America is an international relief and
development organization.
Recent economic growth has
resulted in improved circumstances
for some individuals and their
families, but its benefits have
excluded many others, including
the more than 17 million American households facing food insecurity.
Many of these households have
working members whose
wages are too low to support
themselves and their
families.
The report seeks to
further understand
the circumstances
of and struggles
experienced by
working households
that seek charitable
food assistance from the Feeding
America network, including Terre
Haute Catholic Charities Foodbank,
through additional analysis of data
collected for Hunger in America
2014. Many households, even those
with an employed member, report
minimal incomes and challenges
meeting their basic needs.
“This more extensive dive into the
struggles facing our working clients
helps illustrate that even those who
can secure some employment are
making difficult choices, between
paying for rent, utilities, healthcare
and enough food for their families,”
said Bob Aiken, CEO of Feeding
America. “We hope this study will provide a clearer picture of some
of the obstacles facing so many of the 46.5 million Americans we
serve each year.”
“It’s shocking to see how many Americans go to work every
day but then must still stand in line at the food pantry to feed
their family,” said Raymond C. Offenheiser, President of Oxfam
America. “Despite having full-time or even multiple jobs, the money
they bring home is not enough to regularly put food on the table.”
From Paycheck to Pantry: Hunger in Working America documents
the continued struggles low income American families face in
accessing adequate food and nutrition. A combination of limited
income, underemployment and competing household expenses
exhibit the need for viable support systems for these families. To
read more about From Paycheck to Pantry: Hunger in Working
America, go to http://www.feedingamerica.org/hunger-in-america/our-research/hunger-in-working-america.
Key statistics from the report include:
- In 43% of working client households
(approximately 3.6 million
households), at least one member
worked full-time in the past year; yet
these households still needed to turn
to the charitable sector for support.
Many others report challenges
in securing full-time, permanent
positions, with more than half (57%)
of working client households having
part-time jobs.
- The majority of client households
with employment subsist on minimal
incomes, with 89% reporting an
annual household income of $30,000
or less.
- Two out of three (69%) working
client households live at or below
the federal poverty line (in 2013,
$23,550 for a family of four, $19,530
for a family of three).
- Eighty-six percent of client
households with employment face
food insecurity.
- One in two (50%) working client
households receives federal benefits
through the Supplemental Nutrition
Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly
the Food Stamp Program), in
addition to seeking assistance from
the charitable sector, as their means
of accessing adequate food.
- The vast majority (94%) of working
client households have children
participating in the National School
Lunch Program (also known as the
Free & Reduced Lunch Program).
A Word from the Agency Director
Dear Friends,
As the middle class in America continues to be slowly wiped out, the number of working poor continues to increase.
Today, nearly one out of every three families in the United States is considered to be “low income.” Millions of American
families are finding they can barely make it from month to month even with both parents working as hard as they possibly
can. American workers from coast to coast are having their wages decreased at a time when it seems like the cost of
virtually every monthly bill is going up. Unfortunately, there is every indication that things are only going to get worse and
the average American families are going to be financially squeezed even more in the months and years to come.
Inside this issue you will find further evidence, presented from the study released by Feeding America® and Oxfam
America® that further details the decline many families are feeling within our communities. It is important for us to better
understand what is going on in our country. As we’ve reported previously, 1 in 6 individuals are food insecure and even
more alarming, 1 in 4 children are food insecure. This is simply unacceptable!
- More than half of the U.S. labor force (58%) has “suffered a spell of unemployment, a cut in pay, a
reduction in hours or have become involuntary part-time workers” since the recession began in December 2007.
Unfortunately, things are not going to be getting any better for the working poor. In the new “one world economy,” millions
upon millions of American workers now find they have to compete for work with laborers on the other side of the globe
who are willing to work for lower wages. This approach has caused millions of jobs to leave the United States and is
forcing wages to decrease.
Millions of Americans have now found they are making substantially less than they used to. If that has happened to you,
there is no comfort in knowing you are not alone. And, American workers are not just competing with each other anymore – now there is the constant threat that jobs could just be sent overseas.
As wages are forced down, a record number of working Americans are finding themselves forced to turn to SNAP benefits
(formally food stamps) and to other government, anti-poverty programs. Millions of Americans have been forced to take
part-time jobs in order to supplement their incomes, while others have been forced to take part-time jobs because that is
all they can find.
This is all part of a long-term trend. The numbers don’t lie. Nearly every other segment of the population is getting poorer
but each one of us can make a difference. Some have the resources to provide financial support, others have talents
which they can share as a committed volunteer, and all of us can pray. Won’t you partner with us to provide hope for the
working poor in our communities?
God bless you,
John C. Etling
How Bad Are Things Really for America’s Working Poor?
By Diandre Malone
During the great recession, unemployment rates reached their
highest levels in more than 25 years, drawing attention to the
millions of Americans who lost their jobs during the economic
downturn. But there is another—mostly untold—story in the
federal employment statistics. The working poor are working
people whose incomes fall below a given poverty line. Some
families with both parents working still live in poverty. While
poverty may be associated with joblessness, some work multiple
jobs; many do not have the money to pay for necessities.
New data from the U.S. Census Bureau shows that in 2009,
there were more than 10 million low-income working families
in the United States. Between 2007 and 2009, the share
of working families who are low-income—earning less than
200% of the official poverty threshold—increased from 28
to 30 percent. This now means that nearly 1 in 3 working
families in the United States, despite their hard work, are
struggling to meet basic needs. The plight of these families
now challenges a fundamental assumption that in America,
work pays. (http://ourfuture.org/20110103/The_Working_Poor_
Americas_Invisible_Economic_Other)
Often times, it is the untold story, of countless of single
parents who bear the sole responsibility of taking care of their
children. Having been raised in a working poor family, I can
attest to the struggles. I see it every day at work and in life. I
asked for individuals to send me their stories of struggling in
day-to-day life. One in particular caught my attention:
Sometimes we look at our life and circumstances and
wonder how we ever got to where we are. Growing up,
we didn’t have a lot, but we didn’t know it. I told myself
that when I got older and living on my own, my life was
going to be different. I wanted to travel across America
and the world and have a nice car. As a single person, I
did get to do a few things, but when I started a family and
then became a single parent, life’s struggles became a
smack in the face. My son’s father quit his job to get out
of paying child support leaving me to do it all on my own.
I was told more times than I care to count that I didn’t
qualify for government assistance. Struggle doesn’t even
begin to describe it. It is a ”nightmare.” It has been the
hardest life I could ever imagine. The stress surviving
from day-to-day led to countless tears of anguish and
pain. I worked 8-10 hours daily, sometimes more. Salary
increases were and are never enough to help counteract
the constant rise in the cost of living. Finding money to
take care of the rent, car loan, insurance, doctors’ bills,
medicine, food and utilities has been nonexistent. Robbing
from Paul to pay Peter is an everyday reality. There is a
constant fear of losing what little you have. The tears are
real, the fear is real and the struggle is real and constant.
This story is not unique in communities across our country.
Millions of low-wage earners are barely scraping by from
week to week, even though they average nearly 40 hours
of work per week, many at more than one job. They worry
about how to pay the rent and put food on the table, and
wonder what will happen if something goes wrong – perhaps
a family member falls ill or if they lose hours at work. Not
earning enough to sustain their families, many workers find
themselves going into debt—taking loans from family or
friends, using credit cards, selling their belongings at pawn
shops or taking out payday loans. This debt stops people
from getting ahead, let alone
investing in education or
retirement.
Providing food is
one way we can
create hope
for a brighter
future for
these families.
Need Help Finding Food?
If you need help finding food or know someone who does, call the National Hunger Hotline at 1-866-3-HUNGRY
(1-866-348-6479). The Hunger Hotline is available Monday – Friday from 9am – 6pm. All calls are free and
confidential. Help someone you know receive the nutrition they need to remain healthy and productive.
