Tagged: poverty

It’s well established that the income gap between rich and poor in America has increased over the past few decades.  Income inequality among developed nations is highest in the United States.  Most of the growth in this inequality has been between the middle class and top earners, with the disparity becoming more extreme the further one goes up in income.

The state aims to phase out the use of motel rooms as emergency shelters for homeless families over the next 18 months and halt the program completely by June 30, 2014.  Aaron Gornstein, the Undersecretary of  The Department of  Housing and Community Development  said eliminating the motel system is in the best interest of taxpayers and homeless families.

A group of Massachusetts based foundations and corporations have announced millions in donations to help low income people survive the winter.   WAMC’s Pioneer Valley Bureau Chief Paul Tuthill reports.

   The statewide funding collaborative, MassNeeds, on Tuesday announced that $8.4 million has been raised  to help poor people with the basic needs of food, heat and shelter this winter. The money comes from 41 corporate, private and public foundations and will be shared by 150  charities .

National Book Award-winning author, Jonathan Kozol, has been working with children in inner-city schools for nearly fifty years and has been called “today’s most eloquent spokesman for America’s disenfranchised.”

His latest book is Fire in the Ashes: Twenty-Five Years Among the Poorest Children in America.