Washington, D.C.—Today the Half in Ten campaign released a new report that tracks the nation’s and every state’s progress towards cutting poverty in half over the next decade and the organization’s leaders issued the following statements:
Melissa Boteach, Director of Half in Ten:
“Our economy works best when it works for everyone. By bringing people off the economic margins and investing in shared economic prosperity, we can significantly cut poverty, bring millions of Americans into the middle class, and accelerate economic growth. We have the resources to accomplish this goal even as we tackle our long-term deficits – it’s about policy choices.”
Erik Stegman, Half in Ten Manager:
“As Congress consider key decisions on taxes, jobs, and deficit-reduction, they should heed the findings of this report that reveal both widening income inequality and the effectiveness of federal investments in cutting poverty. These data should be a wake-up call that we must protect low-income people in deficit-reduction and invest in jobs, education, and work and income supports to create greater economic opportunity for all.”
Winnie Stachelberg, Senior Vice President for External Affairs at the Center for American Progress Action Fund, a Half in Ten partner:
“Congress must remember that behind every piece of data is a family struggling to make ends meet, a worker looking for a job, or a senior choosing between food and medicine. This report underscores that providing opportunity for all is not just in a moral imperative, but an economic and fiscal one as well. Policies to cut our deficit must also cut poverty and expand the middle-class if we are to create and sustain long-term economic growth.”
Wade Henderson, president and CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, a Half in Ten partner:
“As the indicators report shows, now is the time to take a giant leap forward to ensure that prosperity is inclusive and shared—a notion that has always been at the core of the civil rights movement. Our economy has made steady progress, but we’re far from where we want to be, especially for communities that are too often on the wrong side of educational and income disparities.”
Deborah Weinstein, executive director of Coalition on Human Needs, a Half in Ten partner:
“As Members of Congress consider key decisions on taxes, jobs, and deficit-reduction, they should heed the findings of this report that reveal both widening income inequality and the effectiveness of federal investments in cutting poverty. These data should be a wake-up call that we must protect low-income people in deficit-reduction and invest in jobs, education, and work and income supports to create greater economic opportunity for all.”
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Half in Ten was launched in 2008 to urge local, state, and national leaders to set a national goal of cutting poverty in half in 10 years, and to build the political and public will to advance legislation and programs that will help us to reach it. More information can be found at www.halfinten.org.