| A whopping 15% of New Yorkers can't afford | | | | with his school-aged son and disabled wife in |
| daily food. Of 8.2 million people, about 1.2 | | | | a one-bedroom apartment... |
| million increasingly rely on charity meals. | | | | |
| | | | Or Gina, who is working two jobs, but still |
| Raw numbers illustrate the growing gulf | | | | doesn't earn enough to feed her three |
| between rich and poor. In 2006: | | | | children between the ages of 6 and 14... |
| | | | |
| - Wall Street Bankers collected $24 billion | | | | Or Mark, who lost his professional job and |
| in bonuses. | | | | went to work juggling three part-time jobs. |
| | | | His family had to rely on free food after the |
| - The city's streets were home to 3,800 | | | | kids' college funds were exhausted. |
| homeless. | | | | |
| | | | The Gap between Rich and Poor Grows |
| - More than 1.6 million adults earned less | | | | |
| than $10,000, the national poverty line. | | | | The sad fact is that Americans work more |
| | | | hours than any other industrialized nation. |
| - Over 475,000 children live below the | | | | France, for example, has laws that limit the |
| poverty line. | | | | workweek to 35 hours. |
| | | | |
| - Over 380,000 children rely on free food to | | | | And still, at the CIA World Factbook, the |
| survive. | | | | economic profile for the United States |
| | | | explains, "Since 1975, practically all the |
| More than 1,200 soup kitchens and food | | | | gains in household income have gone to the |
| pantries across the city are currently | | | | top 20 percent of households." |
| providing food for these people who can't | | | | |
| afford it. | | | | The USA now has 37 million out of 300 million |
| | | | people living below the poverty line. That's |
| Faces of the Hungry | | | | the combined populations of Louisiana, |
| | | | Mississippi, Alabama, Texas, and Arkansas. |
| Contrary to popular belief, most of the | | | | The US infant mortality rate compares with |
| hungry are not welfare deadbeats; most are | | | | Malaysia's. |
| working parents, children, and senior | | | | |
| citizens who just can't make ends meet | | | | And while median household income falls, |
| anymore. | | | | congress passes more tax cuts for |
| | | | corporations and the wealthy, cuts funding |
| As noted on the Food Bank for New York City's | | | | for Medicaid and other safety nets, and each |
| online site, New York's 1.2 million hungry | | | | year asks for billions of supplemental |
| are made up of people like Raymond, who lives | | | | dollars to fund an illegal war. |