American Notes Poverty

The U.S. may be one of the world's richest nations, but more and more American children are living in poverty. A recent study by the Congressional Budget Office estimated that 13.8 million children were in poverty in 1983, an increase of more than 4 million since 1973. The CBO findings were reinforced last week by a report from the nonprofit Children's Defense Fund. According to C.D.F. President Marian Edelman, the plight of black children has worsened dramatically compared with that of whites since 1980. Black children, said Edelman, are now twice as likely as whites to die before their first birthday, three times as likely to live in an impoverished or female-headed family, four times as likely to live with neither parent and five times as likely to be dependent on welfare.

To help alleviate this situation Edelman urged enactment of the Children's Survival Bill, which was introduced in the Senate last week by Connecticut Democrat Christopher Dodd and is expected to be introduced in the House this week or next. The bill would attack such problems as nutritional deficiencies in poor children and the crippling cycle of teenage pregnancy. "Those who would rather moralize than help should remember that poor children did not cause or choose their poverty," said Edelman. "These facts require urgent community and national responses."