Statistically Speaking...

This article and it's troubling statistics reminded me a lot of a book I read in Foundations freshman year: Nickel and Dimed. A woman decided to do some rather wussied-out detective work by going undercover working minimum wage jobs, one of which was at Merry Maids. She wrote about the people she met, and how it was for them to afford food, pay their rents and simply get by day to day. Once you factor in rent, and health care, over 50% of the minimum wage budget is gone.
In addition, Dr. Levy and the Siena Research Institute just completed a study concerning the incomes of the people in new York. Now this was not just Albany, as the research article we reviewed was, but it probably contained a significant sample from the area. Some of his findings correspond to the stresses that low-income families have and were surprising just how many people live below the poverty line, or are straddling it warily. Down the street, right down route 9, there are homes without running water, power or electricity. It's the year 2008 and we're supposedly the great power in the world stage. What makes these conditions, considering of course the statistical information in the article (that's enough to make your jaw drop), justifiable in America?
I am glad that the Catholic Diocese are willing to help out people in the way of education... with the graduation rate around 38%, and the fact that 53% of people who live in poverty never graduated... that makes the determinant number of those "destined" to live below the poverty line about: 33% (32.86%) of people in Albany right off the bat, are in poverty. That certainly doesn't seem fair. The more that education is promoted, the most fundamental problem to eradicating such a high percentage of people in poverty can be adequately addressed. There are of course other factors and programs that can certainly be implemented... but that's where we come in.
Daunting though this article is, it's important to get a good idea of scope of people that we will immerse ourselves in. The distribution of wealth has so much influence on the ways people live, and the actions they take. As soon as we can open ourselves up to understanding, we will be effective at critically solving problems that are in dire need of addressing.

-Leah