Poverty and hunger in US rise, but charitable giving doesn't
Baku, June 8 (AZERTAC). When it comes to poverty, myths abound.
Americans believe that legions of folks are on welfare, for example, when only 10 percent of the poor receive cash assistance.
Some politicians claim that a large percentage of food stamp recipients cheat to reap benefits, though fraud levels are quite low.
And for years, it's been asserted that charity can replace the dollars spent by the federal government on hunger programs -- despite numbers that show it's not true.
At the same time that poverty and hunger are rising, the House of Representatives in March passed a proposed budget that would, if ratified, cut food stamp benefits by around 18 percent ($135 billion over 10 years), which would end assistance to millions of people. It would also change the way food stamps are distributed, resulting in fewer benefits for millions more Americans.
"Americans are very generous, but people don't appreciate the scope of poverty in the United States," said Kathy Saile, director of the office of domestic social development for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. "The amount of hunger reduction by the federal government dwarfs what charities in the faith community are doing."
Overall, the U.S. government spends $105 billion annually on food programs to help the hungry, federal figures show.
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