Welcome to MGx News for Kids – because adults are not listening
I’m Shanley Geddry

New data from the 2010 census report reveals 17.6% of US children live in poverty. According to the Bread for the World Institute 3.5 percent of U.S. households experience hunger. Some people in these households frequently skip meals or eat too little, sometimes going without food for a whole day. 9.6 million people, including 3 million children, live in these homes. Many factors are blamed including the general downturn of the economy leading to job loss and flattened wages.

The new 112th Congress is widely promoting spending cuts and federal wage freezes to fix a budget crisis that began with tax cuts enacted in 2000. Newly elected governors and state legislators are trumpeting means to curtail spending including reducing services to makeup for multibillion-dollar budget shortfalls.

Both the state and federal levels blame the current fiscal crisis on union represented public sector workers, rather than insufficient tax revenue. Public employees asked to take pay reductions include, teachers, firemen, police officers, maintenance workers, transit workers, food safety inspectors and public health and safety personnel.

Cutting back on public services like education and school lunch programs are likely to make conditions for children living in poverty worse. Many economists believe if wages don’t keep pace with inflation people buy less. Less spending leads to reduced demand for goods and services and this is one reason there are fewer jobs.

Labor union opponents argue that US jobs have been sent overseas because American workers ask too much for their labor. They often blame unions for negotiating higher salaries and benefits for workers, reducing shareholder profits, as the reason companies take jobs elsewhere.

Many public sector jobs have union representation to help employees bargain with their employers from a position of strength. The same groups opposing private sector unions also oppose public sector unions.

Cutting back on public salaries and pensions is not likely to improve conditions for children anymore than cut backs in the private sector.
West Virginia has a 24% child poverty rate. One of the state’s biggest employers is the coal industry. In the 1980’s companies like Massey Energy began busting unions and now less than 20% of the state’s miners belong to a union. Wages in in coal mining counties average 25% lower than other regions and poverty rates exceed the national average by as much as 17%.

Reducing wages has not been good for kids or the economy.

Brazil, has taken a different approach. Between 2003 and 2009, the income of poor Brazilians has grown seven times as much as the income of rich Brazilians. Poverty has fallen from 22 percent of the population to 7 percent. Brazil did this by funding social programs that require children to stay in school and obtain medical checkups and eat healthy food.

Brazil reduced poverty and at the same time grew its economy by 7.9% in 2010.