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Top of the world, ma
Bob Taylor ol Umpqua Roofing takes advantage of
the sunshine as he helps in the restoration of Friendly
Hall. The work is only one of several renovation and
construction protects on campus
Photo by Andre Ranieri
Percentage of U.S. poor rises sharply
Poverty claims one in seven in first increase since 1983
L WASHINGTON (Al>)
The numbnr of Americans
below iho poverty lino rose
sharply last year to 3.) t> mil
NATIONAL
lion, tho Census Bureau said
Thursday. Thu increase, ihu
first sim:u 1'IH 1, luff nearly ono in suvun people in
poverty, and experts said tho total v\.is still i limb
mg
One fifth of the nation's children and one third
of its lilac ks were considered poor
Experts said tho higher poverty rate would like
|y mean more people would lose their homes or
succumb tii health problems _
and tho strain of trying to make
('mis meet Some also predict
ed increased racial and ethnic
tension and more crime
Sinte poverty increased sig
nificantly from M1H9 to Ill'll!
with just a modest deteriora
la :i in the economy, it is likely
poverlv will increase to u great
er extent in Ill'll, when the
economy was in worse shape
and unemployment rates rose
tmti h more," said Boh Creen
stem, director of the Center on
Budget and Policy Priorities, a
Washington roseart h group.
In I'l'it), a family of four
earning SKI.dfiS or less iiefnre
taxes was considered poor That definition does
not include) any property tile family may own or
some forms of assistance it may receive
Some I I fi peri ent of Americans lived in pover
tv in I non nearly one of every seven people.
That was an increase of 2.1 million from the year
before.
The figures were the first to track poverty in
America since the nation fell into recession last
year
Daniel Weinberg, the Census Bureau's head of
household economic statistics, said, "1 think tied
using all these indicators, economic well being
seems to be worse than it was.''
Presidential spokesman Marlin Pit/water said
the White House is "always disturbed'' by the
; v*\ert v ruin and "there's no denying that poverty
lulls have increased and the recession has l>oen a
major fat tor " He said tfu» solution is for Congress
to approve administration hills that President
Hush contends will product* more |ohs
Sociologist Richard Ropers ol Southern Utah
University, author of several hooks on poverty,
-..ltd. "We can expect to see more homeless peo
ple on the streets, more street crime, more gang
violence, more domestic violence, more family
lability, increasing rates of drug addiction and
,:ii rea .mg phvsit el and mental health problems "
Ropers saui such problems get worse when
poverty increases mainly he
It is a spiritually
poor nation that
lets its children be
its poorest citizens
while so many
others enjoy the
benefits of the
richest society on
earth.
Marian Wright Edolrnan
( ause ul Ihti mlmiM) stress oi
not having enough money
For the ltd 5 percent of
Americans who aren't poor,
the rise in poverty means high
er taxi's to pnv for law enforce
ment nrui social services, an at
mosphere of heightened racial
and ethnic conflict, he said
"These middle class people in
the suburbs, when they go to
town to their jobs, they'll have
to step around homeless poo
pie on the streets
The Census Bureau's infor
mation was based on inter
views with about 00,000 Aue r
lean housunoHls
The figures indicated that tming black or His
panic, a child, a city dweller, u Southerner or n
member of a family headed by a woman meant a
prison was morn likely to bo poor
Whites, people in their late 4()s and 50s. subur
ban and rural residents, and Northeasterners were
least likely to he poor.
l orly percent of the poor were i hildren
It is a spiritually poor nation that lets its chil
dren he its poorest citizens while so many others
enjoy the U nelits of the richest society on earth,"
said Marian Wright bdellium, president of the
( hildren's Defense bund
It I licks had the highest poverty rate of any ra
i i.iI or ethnic group at percent
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