The gap between rich and the poor in this country is the highest it has been since the Great Depression with more than 46 million Americans living below the country’s poverty line, according to an antipoverty project discussed last week at the Clinton School
The Half in Ten Campaign, a joint project of the Center for American Progress Action Fund, the Coalition on Human Needs and the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, aims to cut poverty in half in ten years, said campaign consultant Desmond Brown in a speech Friday at the Clinton School.
The Half in Ten campaign emerged after Hurricane Katrina and the subsequent realization of a need for a more specific and targeted handling of poverty, Brown said.
The campaign will promote three overarching areas, “good jobs, strong families and economic security,” he said.
A report that Brown and the antipoverty project are assembling identifies what needs to be fixed in order for the three goals to be achieved. It will eventually establish a standard and provide an opportunity to track progress in these areas, Brown said.
Brown emphasized the importance of assisting state and local antipoverty. Using the campaign’s interactive website, Brown showed the audience where Arkansas is prospering and where it needs more work.
It is important to work on both prevention and helping those who are currently poor, Brown said. Through continuous research and data collection, coupled with activism and change, the Half in Ten campaign aims to dramatically improve poverty statistics in America.
Video of Brown’s lecture will be posted soon at www.clintonschoolspeakers.com.
This post was written by Clinton School student Maggie Carroll (’13).