I got a call from a lady in Atlanta, Ga this morning asking about housing in the Baltimore area. She was looking for a two bedroom house and was concerned about the climate and the job rate and the number of available service type jobs. I see help wanted signs everywhere when I'm out. The classified section in the newspaper always has lots of jobs in it, and the section on Sunday is huge. The statistics that we hear about in the news is very good, our unemployment rate is very low, one of the lowest in the country. So, I never really thought much about poverty in Maryland.
I looked a little deeper. The unemployment rate only calculates the rate for people who are still actively looking for work. It does not take into account those who are not working and who have given up looking for suitable employment.
I started researching this morning about poverty. The world bank defines poverty as follows:
- Lack of shelter
- Being sick and not being able to see a doctor
- Not having access to school and not being able to read
- Not having a job
- Fear for the future
- Living one day at a time
- Losing a child to illness brought about by unclean water
- Powerlessness
- Lack of representation
- Lack of freedom
The poverty level in the United States is $10,787 a year for a single person under age 65 and $21027 for a family of 4. I think about the average rental price and how you are only supposed to spend 25% of your income on shelter. That would mean the family of 4 should only be spending $438.07 a month on rent or mortgage and that single person has a budget of $224.73 for housing a month. What kind of house can you get for that amount of money? A family of four can afford a house priced under $62,900, of which there are only 29 to choose from, most of which need some work and a single person can afford only 1 home but it needs work. Statistics show that 37% of households can not afford rental units in Maryland. In the state's most affordable housing market the minimum wage earner has to work 80 hours a week to afford the rent.
And, according to the Maryland Food Bank, 45% of the people receiving food assistance report having to choose between buying food and paying for heat and utilities.
These statistics are staggering.
Yet, I still see commercials on television asking for people to support hunger and poverty in third world countries. Why aren't we following the old saying "Charity begins at home"? Did you know that Americans donate an estimated $3.4 billion annually to international aid?
Why isn't some of that redirected back into our own country to help those living in poverty here? Or do Americans just assume that we live in the land of plenty and turn a blind eye to the poverty that is occurring here at home?
Statistics can be skewed to say anything the person choosing the parameters wants them to say. Just as in politics the polls can be made to say anything if you choose the right parameters. But the facts speak for themselves, 1 in 10 children in the state of Maryland lives in poverty. And Maryland has the second lowest overall poverty level in the nation. What does that say about the rest of the country?
Wake up and look at the statistics in your neighborhood, and, before you donate to international aid perhaps you should seek out the local agencies that need the assistance more than a third world country.
We are in the business of providing housing for the people of our community, don't forget those people who live in poverty need a home too. Remember the American Dream is owning a home of your own, those people making $21000 a year are no less deserving than those that make over the median income level of $55,000.
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