Happy Thanksgiving to all of the readers of The Current and The Gazette throughout Cape May and Atlantic counties. We are so lucky to live in a country where free speech is protected so well.

If I would try to write this column in Iran or China or Saudi Arabia, I'd be writing from jail. And probably so would Harry and Seth. Americans, with all of our petty and not-so-petty political squabbling, should always appreciate how much better life is for us and our children than it would be in so many other countries around the world.

When we sit down to eat our Thanksgiving dinner, I hope folks will reflect upon the many places around the world where poverty is so extreme that we can't even imagine living in such conditions.

Reflect also on the growing problem of poverty and hunger right here, in the richest nation on the planet.  More Americans are now living in poverty in suburbia than in the cities. This is a new trend that has grown dramatically due to the current recession.  In addition, families who used to donate to organizations helping the poor and to food banks  now find themselves turning to these same support groups to feed their own families.

Poverty is spreading upward as the recession continues. Thus working families are joining the very poor and are feeling the same kind of hopelessness that the hungry and poor have always felt.

A study by the Urban Institute recently focused on the dangerous effects of "persistent poverty" on children. The report states that nearly half of all children born into poverty will be what the study calls "persistently poor," that they will be poor for at least half of their childhoods. African-American children bear the biggest risk of never escaping poverty; at least 40 percent of black children are poor at birth, compared to only 8 percent of white children.

Poverty is much more likely to affect black kids the rest of their lives. African-American children are seven times more likely than white children to be persistently poor, and more than two-thirds of black children who are poor at birth will be poor for at least half of their childhoods.

Childhood poverty and living with persistent poverty with little hope to escape obviously makes life for children more difficult, and there are many negative outcomes among poor children as they grow.

The cumulative effects of continual poverty are seen in many different societal outcomes.  Poor children often, not surprisingly, turn out to live in poverty as adults. The Urban Institute study reports that while just 4 percent of children born into non-poor families end up spending at least half their early adult years in poverty, 21 percent of children born poor will spend a significant amount of their early adulthood in poverty.

These children are in more danger of having problems as adults than children born into families with higher incomes and more security. Children who are born poor and live in persistent poverty are more likely to be high school dropouts, be teenage parents, and not be able to find a good job, perhaps not even any job. Poverty in the United States is as big, if not bigger, a threat to our country’s future than terrorists and other foreign enemies.

This current recession has been the key factor that has led to millions of children and families falling into poverty. Many families have fallen into extreme poverty.  With the recession and joblessness hanging on and dragging our country's economy down, the chances are good that millions more families and children are likely to suffer long-term effects of the recession and more will become mired in persistent poverty.

There is no easy solution to this problem. Supporting our local branch of the local Community FoodBank of New Jersey and also the Rescue Mission in Atlantic City, and donating to national charities helps, but these type of organizations act like a safety net, or a giant band-aid. As a nation we have to decide how to invest our tax dollars and other resources. Do we invest in bombs or food, arms or farms?

Hopefully, as we slowly move beyond this recession, and more folks get back to work, some of poverty's upward movement will ease. But, if we feel that our lot in life is no better than that of the poorest among us, that all people matter, then we have a duty to eliminate poverty and hunger here at home.

Information for this column based on Marian Wright Edelman http://uspoverty.change.org/blog/view/the_threat_of_persistent_poverty

Campaign. Learn more at www.coalitionforpeaceandjustice.org and www.unplugsalem.org. He can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or (609) 335-8176.