Tzufit+blog

//**__This report was written by students of the Tzufit Advisory, after meeting with Jeremy Burton of the Jewish Community Relations Council.__**// __**THE CAUSES OF HUNGER AND POVERTY**__

How is poverty slowly affecting our world and us? While we go around living our normal lives we don't realize the amount of people around us living in poverty. In America in 2010, 17.2 million households, 14.5 percent of households (approximately __one in seven__), were food insecure, the highest number ever recorded in the United States.There are many organizations that help prevent hunger. For example Food Stamps distributes money for food to 49 million individuals which works out to $1.50 per meal. There is a program called __//**'The Food Stamp Challenge'**//__ where people spend a week with only $31.50 for food. One luxury that they have is time to ration out and plan what they are going to buy.

An important point that many people don't know is that there is a big difference between minimum wage and living wage. Living wages shows that one person must make $13 an hour to be able to sustain the cheapest lifestyle possible in Massachusetts. But when one is payed minimum wage it is not enough to live off of. There are organizations, like __JCPA__, which are protesting and asking the congress to raise the minimum wage so that workers that are paid minimum wage don't have to go to soup kitchens. Minimum wage has been increased over time but not enough in ratio to inflammation.