|
 Printer-Friendly Version
Archived News Release--Caution:
information may be out of date.
For more information call: 202/219-8211.
Today's Census Bureau report, which found that poverty
declined last year, is a heartening sign of progress. But the 38 million
Americans who continue to live in poverty remind us that we still have a long
way to go.
Perhaps most disturbing is the existence of millions of
people who hold jobs, yet still cannot climb out of poverty. For a decade and a
half, we have witnessed a sharp rise in the number of these Americans -- men
and women who work hard, but can barely make ends meet. As a group, they go by
a name that ideally should be a contradiction: the working poor.
Unfortunately, some in Washington are now advocating
policies that would further diminish opportunities for the working poor -- that
risk making a current American paradox a permanent American condition. For
example, both the House and the Senate are considering proposals to
significantly reduce the earned income tax credit (ETIC). But today's data show
that last year, about 2.1 million people were lifted above the poverty line by
the EITC. Without the EITC, last year's poverty rate would have been almost one
percentage point higher.
It makes no sense to point hard-working Americans toward
the ladder of opportunity, and then kick away the rungs -- by scrapping the
EITC, cutting education and job training and refusing to raise the minimum
wage.
So while we're heartened by this news, we can't let it
derail our progress toward the ultimate goal: building the middle class,
shrinking the underclass, and ensuring that Americans who work hard have a fair
shot to get ahead.
Archived News Release--Caution:
information may be out of date.
| 
