Nearly two-thirds of Americans fear that poverty will increase, while almost the same proportion worry they will find themselves among the lowest economic class, according to a new poll by Catholic bishops.
Almost five months after the abject poverty of New Orleans was televised across the world in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the Washington-based Catholic Campaign for Human Development released a poll tracking people’s perception of the poor.
“The numbers are staggering,” said Bishop Howard Hubbard of Albany, N.Y., the bishops’ CCHD chairman. “Right now, 37 million men, women and children are living below the poverty line. That’s one out of every eight Americans.”
Before Katrina, New Orleans had a child poverty rate at more than 38 percent, one of the highest in the country.
Hubbard released the survey in New Orleans on Jan. 19 as part of announcing an additional $500,000 in grants awarded to groups helping poor victims of hurricanes Katrina and Rita rebuild their lives.
The same survey found that 75 percent of Americans think the disaster should become a tool for educating the public about poverty, while 23 percent said too much attention already has been paid to the situation.
The poll was conducted among 1,131 members of the adult population in December.
While Hubbard said his group was not surprised at the vast poverty encapsulated in New Orleans, the poll showed that 41 percent of Americans were taken aback at the stories depicting poverty here.
The lack of jobs that pay “a living wage” and a lack of education were the top reasons for poverty, the poll found.