STATEMENTS REGARDING CENSUS BUREAU REPORT ON POVERTY
Data Shows Much Work To Be Done
To Get Economy Back On Track And Ensure Working Families Don't Fall So Far Behind

Deborah Weinstein, Executive Director
Coalition on Human Needs
202-223-2532 x 31
Cell 301-873-1324

“Today's Census Bureau Report shows that for nearly 36 million forgotten Americans [nearly 4.3 million more than in 2000,] the recession is still on. We desperately need a national agenda that includes them - real help for the new poor -- people working or out of work, who struggle to afford health coverage, food, child care and housing.”

Cecilia Garcia, Executive Director
Connect For Kids
202-454-5611

"The data shows that there is no recovery for working parents, who are still finding it harder to provide for their children. Yet the very public services that have proven effective in helping families pay the costs of food, child care, housing and health care are the ones most at risk, as federal and state budgets continue to fall short."

Tamara Lucas Copeland, President
Voices For America’s Children
202-289-0777, ext.

"These numbers show that the administration's tax cuts are not working for working families - they are not boosting job growth and they are not boosting incomes. With an increase of nearly 1.3
million poor children from 2000, working parents are struggling to provide for their children while fearing they will lose their jobs, their overtime pay or their benefits."

Timothy Smeeding, Ph.D.
Professor of Economics and Public Adminstration
Maxwell School of Syracuse University
Contributor to Social Inequality, a forthcoming volume from the Russell Sage Foundation
(011) +353 21 490-2174, Conference Contact in Ireland

“The census report shows the recovery is balderdash. Poverty is up – especially for children. The largest percentage increase in poverty in over five years is evident from today’s report.
Poor children in single parent families bore most of the brunt despite the fact that welfare roles are down again. It appears that we have turned the welfare poor into the working poor.”