One in three children is living in poverty in America. Nearly one in three children will be born into a home where a parent will find it difficult to put food onto their tables. One in three children is living in a home where the family’s annual income, assuming a family of four, is less than $22,314. And these poverty numbers keep rising. According to the US Census, the number of children in the US considered poor rose by 1 million in 2010. These statistics are staggering and are part of a larger story of increasing poverty and a growing gap between the rich and poor in our country.
Amidst all of the noise of our lives – all of the conversations about turkey and sweet potato recipes, plans and traffic, diets and desserts – I keep coming back to this staggering statistic. Do we need to know anything more to help us get in touch with our own profound sense of gratitude and abundance? I know that many of the families in our community struggle – job security has felt compromised, the real estate market has softened, the state of our national economy and the conversations in and around Washington and Wall Street have been depressing. It is a time when one can easily feel discouraged, worried and perhaps depressed. But I continue to think about this basic statistic; one in three children. I look at my three children in their bedrooms tonight and I try to wrap my head around what it would be like to have one of them born into poverty. I think about the three other children who live on my floor and again imagine, statistically, one of them would be born into poverty. I picture the 185 magnificent children in our school and realize that would mean 61 of them would be living in a state of poverty, so many basic needs unmet. And instead, my children, my neighbors’ children, and most of your children are blessed to be sleeping in warm beds, in one of their many pairs of pajamas, in our overheated NYC apartments, with our pantries filled with food (whether it be organic, whole wheat or not!). We live in buildings where we feel safe, and in a community where we are surrounded by friends, by family, by excellent schools, parks, museums, the JCC and other cultural centers, and by top doctors and hospitals. We are indeed so blessed.
As we get prepared for the weekend ahead we may sometimes be in touch with the gap between our expectations and our realities. It may not be the weekend of our fantasy. We may be preparing for a long day of travel ahead, we may be preparing for a holiday meal with family members who get on our nerves, we may be preparing for a lot of cooking and cleaning before and after our feasts. We may be preparing ourselves to face a table where someone important is missing at that table due to death, divorce, or other circumstances. These realities may be a part of this holiday weekend but I encourage you to just remember, a third of the children in our country live in homes (if they are lucky) where getting a turkey onto the table may not be easy.
I wish you all a holiday where you can experience your abundance.
Ilana received her B.A. from Harvard College and a Master's Degree in Education from Bank Street College. She was born and raised on the Upper West Side of Manhattan and now lives there with her husband and three children.
- Gratitude - October 31, 2014
- The Tower Of Babel - October 24, 2014
- The World Was Created For My Sake… I Am But Dust And Ashes - October 3, 2014