November 26, 2001

Study shows poverty hits more than inner-city
___WASHINGTON (RNS)--Rural and suburban residents comprise nearly half of the 23 million low-income people who received emergency food assistance this year from America's Second Harvest, according to a report released Nov. 14 by the national hunger-relief charity.
___The study "punctures the myth that hunger is only a problem of the inner cities, homeless or the chronically unemployed," the charity concluded. While the group does indeed serve those populations, "nearly 40 percent of the households that received assistance from us in 2001 included an adult who was working."
___In its third national survey of more than 32,000 people and 23,000 local agencies, the charity found 47 percent of its emergency food recipients live in rural or suburban areas, and just 10 percent of all recipients were homeless.
___"Every day, many hungry Americans make impossible choices between the essentials of living," the charity pointed out. "Our study found that nearly half (45 percent) have to choose between paying utilities and buying food. More than 35 percent choose between buying food and paying their rent or mortgage."
___About 30 percent have had to choose between buying food and paying for medical care or medicine, the report noted.
___The charity found that more than half (62.8 percent) of its emergency food recipients had at least a high school education. Most recipients (45 percent) were white. Blacks comprised 35 percent of recipients.

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