. . . Easter Sunday

Saturday, March 2 -
One child in six lives in poverty in the United States.  One child in five is born poor.  One in three will be poor at some point in their childhood.  (Children's Defense Fund)

Sunday, March 3 - In the United States, 8.5 million children were without health insurance in 2000, or 11.9 percent of all  children under age 18.  (U.S. Census)

Monday, March 4 -

In the United States in 1999, 31 million people lived in families that suffered food insecurity. (USDA)   12 million children live in households where people have to skip meals or eat less to make ends meet. That means one in ten U.S. households are living with hunger or are at risk of hunger.  (Bread for the World)

Tuesday, March 5 - A full-time worker receiving today’s minimum wage of $5.15 earns only about 80 percent of the poverty line for a family of three.  (National Jobs for All Coalition)

Wednesday, March 6 - One in seven children in the United States has a worker in their family but is still poor.  (Children's Defense Fund) Poverty rates among children in single-mother families are particularly striking: 55 percent of such children under six lived in poverty in 1998.  The figures were even higher for black children - 60 percent; and Hispanic children - 67 percent.  (National Jobs for All Coalition)

Thursday, March 7 -

The number of Americans receiving emergency food aid jumped from 20.7 million in 1993 to 23.3 million in 2001, despite a strong economy.  (Second Harvest)

Friday, March 8 - 39 million people in the United States - 14 percent of the population - had no health insurance and were not enrolled in any government health care program in 2000.  In 2001, an additional two million lost their health insurance when they lost their jobs as a result of the September 11 attacks and the downturn in the economy.  (Families USA)

Saturday, March 9 - In 1999, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development reported that 4.9 million U.S. households comprising 10.9 million people faced "worst-case" housing needs - defined as unassisted renters with incomes below 50 percent of the local area median income who pay more than half of their income for housing or live in severely substandard housing.   These numbers do not include the nation's 300,000 homeless. (Habitat for Humanity)

Sunday, March 10  - In 2001, requests for emergency food aid grew by 23 percent and requests for emergency shelter increased by 13 percent over 2000 in 27 cities surveyed. (U.S. Conference of Mayors)

Monday, March 11 -

In 2001, nearly 60 percent of local hunger relief agencies reported an increase in the number of people requesting food aid since 1997.  (Second Harvest)

Tuesday, March 12 - Among families, poverty is highest in those consisting of single women with children.  In 2000, 24.7 percent of all female-headed families were poor compared to 4.7 percent of families where adult males were present.  (Institute for Research on Poverty, University of Wisconsin)

Wednesday, March 13 - In 2001, the poverty threshold for a family of four (two adults, two children) was $17,960; for a family of three (two adults, one child), it was $14,255 (U.S. Census)  The Joint Economic Committee of the Congress has  concluded that a standard 50 percent above the official U. S. poverty threshold would meet the criterion of minimal adequacy. (National Jobs for All Coalition)

Thursday, March 14 - One in every 15 children in the United States lives at less than half the poverty level.  (Children's Defense Fund)

Friday, March 15 -

Nearly 39 percent of emergency food recipient households include at least one adult who is working.   (Second Harvest)

Sunday, March 17 - The number of people who received food stamps in 2001 decreased by over 10 million since 1994, a drop of over one-third in program participation. (USDA) The Center for Budget and Policy Priorities estimates that only 40 percent of the drop was due to a stronger economy.  Other sources report that about 50 percent of the decline was due to problems implementing the 1996 welfare law, and as much as 8 percent to limits on eligibility established in the welfare law.  (Bread for the World)

Monday, March 18 -

Among families enrolled in the Food Stamp Program, 84 percent report that their benefits last for less than three weeks of each month. (Second Harvest)

Tuesday, March 19 - The poverty rate for inner-city communities in 2000 was 16.1 percent, compared with 7.8 percent for suburban areas.  Rural and small town poverty stood at 13.4 percent.   (Institute for Research on Poverty, University of Wisconsin)

Wednesday, March 20 - Second Harvest's 2001 survey of 32,000 food banks, soup kitchens and homeless shelters found that 40 percent of the beneficiaries of their programs are children under age 18.  Of the adults, 62 percent are women, 55 percent are minorities and 23 percent are single parents.

Thursday, March 21 - As many as 100,000 children, usually children of migrant workers, labor illegally in U.S. agriculture.  (The Fresno Bee/Church World Service Facts Have Faces)

Friday, March 22 - In 2000 in the United States, 22.1 percent of African Americans lived in poverty, and 21.2 percent of Hispanics. (U.S. Census)

Saturday, March 23 - One poor family in seven lives in housing which is severely physically inadequate, such as having no hot water, no electricity, no toilet, or neither a bathtub nor a shower.  (Habitat for Humanity)

Palm Sunday, March 24  -

The homeless population is, on average, 43 percent single men, 37 percent families with children, 13 percent single women, 7 percent unaccompanied minors. (U.S. Conference of Mayors)

Monday, March 25 - The richest school districts spend 56 percent more per student than the poorest. (Children's Defense Fund)

Tuesday, March 26 - During the 1990s, CEO pay increased 535 percent and is now 475 times that of the average worker, according to the group United for a Fair Economy.   If the minimum wage (currently $5.15/hour) had increased at the same rate in the last decade, it would now be $24.13/hour.  (Call to Renewal)

Wednesday, March 27 - In 1989, there were 66 billionaires in the United States and 31.5 million people in poverty,  United for a Fair Economy reports.  In 1999 there were 268 billionaires and 32.3 million people in poverty.  (Call to Renewal)

Holy Thursday, March 28 - Of the nearly 15 million children eligible for child care assistance, only 10 percent receive any help.  Only about half of the children eligible for Head Start programs are in a program.  (Children's Defense Fund)

Good Friday, March 29 -

In 1999 in the United States, 21.2 percent of African Americans, 33.4 percent of Hispanic and 11 percent of non-Hispanic whites had no health insurance. (U.S. Census)

Holy Saturday, March 30 - During 1999, 25 percent of the requests for emergency shelter overall and 37 percent of the requests by families went unmet. The leading cause of homelessness is lack of affordable housing. (U.S. Conference of Mayors)

Easter Sunday, March 31 - During 1999, 21 percent of the requests for emergency food assistance went unmet, and 19 percent of the requests from families.  The leading cause of requests for food assistance is low-paying jobs.  (U.S. Conference of Mayors)