Poverty -- Working full-time?

Working full-time is no longer a sure ticket out of poverty. A single mother of two children earning New York’s minimum hourly wage of $7.15 would bring home just under $15,000 a year. The federal poverty level for a family of three is $17,170, which doesn’t even come close to the true measure of the income needed to meet basic needs. It costs $42,432 a year for a parent and two children living in Albany County to pay for housing, food and other necessities. Legislation is needed to narrow the “hardship gap,” in which income from employment and government support doesn’t cover those basic needs.

(from Poverty in the Diocese of Albany: A Threat to the Common Good)

As we noted on August, this blog is participating in Blog Action Day, an annual nonprofit event that aims to unite the world’s bloggers, podcasters and videocasters, to post about the same issue on the same day. The aim is to raise awareness and trigger a global discussion: this year it is poverty. Between now and October 15, we will be posting about poverty in our diocese, with material provided by Catholic Charities in its report Poverty in the Diocese of Albany: A Threat to the Common Good. The report, and additional information, is available here.