The wealthiest countries, which contain one quarter of the world's population, consume three-fourths of the resources produced worldwide. As alarming as those statistics are, perhaps it's even more unsettling to realize the extent of hunger in the United States. A 1995 study by Tufts University estimates that 20 million to 30 million Americans are too poor to meet their monthly expenses and buy enough food to live healthy, productive lives. Poverty is becoming more prevalent among young people. Between 1979 and 1995, the number of children under three living in poverty in the United states grew from 1.7 million to 2.8 million, from 18 percent to 24 percent - a 33 percent increase.
Young children are more likely to be poor than any other age group and that disparity is growing.
The poverty rate for children under age three was well over double the rate for adults or the elderly in 1995. The problem of young child poverty extends far beyond the stereotypical image of the poor minority child in an urban setting. The fact that nearly half of all young children live in poverty or near poverty demonstrates that young child poverty is a mainstream problem, affecting children from all racial and ethnic backgrounds, from all types of residential areas, and from all regions of the United States. Additional statistics from the Tufts University study reveal that one out of every eight children under the age of 12 in the U.S. goes to bed hungry every night. Furthermore, hunger and race are related in the United States.