A provocative new study shows that teenagers living in East Baltimore face many of the same living conditions as children living in third world countries.
The “WAVE” study, a global research project examining the well-being of children between 15 and 19-years-old, focuses on what is considered “vulnerable” environments around the world. The study looked at Ibadan, Nigeria; Johannesburg, South Africa; New Delhi, India; Shanghai, China and Baltimore Maryland.
Factors studied included physical environment, social cohesion and how often they are exposed to violence in their community.
The study showed that in all five cities the teens were exposed to unsanitary conditions such as trash piled in the street, abandoned buildings infested with rats and used drug paraphernalia in fields and yards.
However, teens in Baltimore and Johannesburg, which are considered “wealthy” cities, consider their living conditions to be negative and had worse outcomes when it came to health issues.
Baltimore was worst in the list of cities when it came to social cohesion and was not best rated in any category.
The U.S. Census Bureau released a report Thursday showing that 48 million Americans are living in poverty.
The report says that despite government programs that help the poor, even 16% of children are still living in poverty.
The report from the Census Bureau is different than the standard report because it takes into account living conditions when considering who is in poverty. So while the official national poverty line is $23,283 for a family of four, in major cities the measure could be $30,000 or more.
California’s poverty rate under the new stat review is 23.4%, meaning almost 1 in 4 Californians can’t afford to live in that state’s high costs of living. New York, Florida and 10 other states had increases in their poverty numbers with the new measure.
The biggest factor putting people into poverty is medical bills according to the report.
The White House has announced the President Obama will hold his first meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican in March.
The President is conducting a trip to Europe in late March and will meet with the Pope on March 27th.
“The President looks forward to discussing with Pope Francis their shared commitment to fighting poverty and growing inequality,” the White House statement said.
The President quoted the Pope during speeches speaking about the income equality problems in the United States.
The Red Cross is making an appeal across Spain to help families who have been devastated by the economic crisis. The Red Cross mainly helped immigrants until this year but because one in four adults are unable to find jobs many Spanish families are now relying on food handouts.
The Spanish Red Cross is also claiming the dire economic situation is causing rising levels of inequality that will lead to social unrest. Continue reading →
