Hunger Report 2002 Executive Summary

A Future With Hope

Bread for the World Institute Releases 12th Annual Hunger Report: Strengthening Rural Communities

Executive Summary by Sandra Bunch, Hunger Report Editor

The attacks of Sept. 11 and subsequent events have been a setback for progress against hunger, both in the United States and internationally. The damage has been most dramatic in Afghanistan and other countries that have suffered war, but the slowdown in the U.S. and global economies has caused millions of people to lose their jobs, thereby increasing their risk of hunger.

But let us not forget that the past 25 years have seen remarkable gains in the fight against hunger, and we have the opportunity to make more dramatic progress both in the United States and worldwide. This year, Congress and the president are making important decisions about the future of hunger, as they debate the reauthorization of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), the United States' basic safety net program, and reassess U.S. relations with developing countries in Africa and elsewhere.

Bread for the World Institute's 2002 Hunger Report, A Future with Hope, finds that the cost of cutting hunger in half has risen slightly from our first estimate. The 2000 report, A Program to End Hunger, calculated that by spending $6 billion - $5 billion for nutrition programs for low-income people in the United States and another $1 billion for poverty-focused assistance to poor countries - hunger could be halved in the United States within a couple of years and in the world by the year 2015. Because of current economic conditions and the delay in acting on these issues, the same goal will now cost $7 billion -- $6 billion domestically and $1 billion internationally. This is seven cents per American per day. For less than the amount we spend each year on movie tickets, we could cut hunger in half worldwide.

Reducing Hunger at Home

In a dramatic 1996 social policy change, Congress and President Clinton ended the cash assistance entitlement program Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) and replaced it with TANF, a program designed to move people "from welfare to work." Under TANF, states have more flexibility to design their own programs, using federal block grants to pay for services. Congress awarded $16.5 billion annually to states through Sept. 30, 2002.

TANF requires states to move at least half their caseloads to work by 2002 and decrees that individuals are subject to a "lifetime limit" of five years of cash assistance. Many states cut the time limit to two years or less. Because benefits are now tied to employment, TANF participants must find a job within the specified time period or lose assistance, regardless of their circumstances.

By Sept. 30, 2002, Congress must reauthorize the TANF legislation, providing an opportunity to strengthen and improve the program as well. Opinions are mixed regarding the program's success so far. Caseloads - the number of people receiving TANF - have dropped by nearly 60 percent, from 5 million families prior to the launch of TANF to 2.1 million families as of March 2001.

But signs of enduring poverty suggest that much remains to be done. Some 31 million people live at or below the official poverty line ($14,630 for a family of three). It is no coincidence that the same number of people in the United States are considered hungry or at risk of hunger. With the booming economy of the late 1990s and the dramatic drop in TANF caseloads, why are these numbers still so high?

A Future with Hope: Hunger 2002 finds that although many formerly unemployed low-income people found jobs in the 1990s, these jobs paid low wages that failed to lift most workers above the poverty line. Not all of those who were cut from the TANF rolls obtained or kept jobs, while those who did averaged $6.00 - $7.50 per hour in positions that were not always full-time. Also, as part of the 1996 legislation, the Food Stamp Program was cut by $27.7 billion over a six-year period. Though some of these cuts have now been restored, most have not. The cuts greatly weaken one of our most successful programs for feeding hungry people.

A Future with Hope calls for strengthening TANF this year by changing the focus of the program from reducing caseloads to reducing poverty. Currently, poverty reduction is not a goal of TANF. Rather than requiring states to reduce caseloads and face penalties if they do not, TANF should give states incentives to reduce poverty and penalize those who do not.

When low-income people are asked how best to reduce poverty, they consistently stress the importance of a good job. Training and education to allow people to qualify for better jobs, a realistic minimum wage and work supports for low-income families - such as child care, health insurance, transportation assistance, and the Earned Income Tax Credit - will all help those who are working to leave poverty behind. In addition, a safety net of programs that provide a livable income should be guaranteed for those who cannot work because of disability.

Thus we could essentially end hunger in the United States by adopting a comprehensive set of policies that assure every family a livable income. But for such change to occur, low-income people must have a larger role in the policy-development process. Labor unions, civil rights organizations, churches and community organizations struggle to organize low-income people to defend their interests, since most do not vote or join advocacy groups. Efforts to empower these citizens could be strengthened through specific public policy changes, such as campaign finance and election reforms, but these have yet to be enacted.

Reducing Hunger in the World

Over the past several years, significant groundwork has been laid to address the challenge of ending global hunger and poverty, beginning with Africa. A Future with Hope finds that by building on these efforts and investing $4 billion per year, of which the U.S. share would be $1 billion per year, the world community can still cut hunger in half by 2015, a goal set by the World Food Summit in 1996.

In June 2002, representatives of more than 180 countries will meet again to review their progress toward fulfilling this goal. They will note that over the past five years, some countries have significantly improved their food security situation. They include China, which is on track to meet the 2015 goal despite its huge population and large-scale hunger problem. However, many other countries, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, have not fared as well. Approximately 300 million African people - nearly half the population - live in extreme poverty on less than $1 a day. One out of every three people in sub-Saharan Africa is undernourished, and food consumption per person is actually falling.

To reverse this trend in Africa and other poor countries, the United States and other industrialized countries must increase their financial assistance, including debt relief, for poverty-reduction efforts that target agriculture, health, education, small business development and rural infrastructure. Such efforts will help hungry and poor people improve their lives.

At last year's G-7 summit, Africa's heads of state presented their own proposal for a New Partnership for Africa's Development. This year's summit will consider how to facilitate the engagement of the industrialized countries with African governments to boost their countries' development. The United States has a unique opportunity to take the lead in forging agreement among the wealthy nations and in urging them to commit the financial resources to carry it out.

A Future with Hope

The path toward a world essentially free of hunger is clearly marked. The problem is that the U.S. public has yet to insist that its leaders take that road. If more U.S. voters insist that our government do its part, we can end widespread hunger in the United States and lead a process that reduces hunger worldwide.

Bread for the World helps translate public concern about hunger into specific, effective changes in public policies. Bread for the World's 45,000 members, including 2,000 churches, mobilize about a quarter of a million letters to Congress each year on issues that are important to hungry people. This year Bread for the World's focus is Working from Poverty to Promise, which aims to win broad, bipartisan support for changes in the TANF program that will help many U.S. families escape hunger and poverty. In 2001, Bread for the World helped win an increase in poverty-focused assistance to Africa and convinced both houses of Congress to ask President Bush to formulate an international plan to reduce hunger and poverty in Africa.

As history has repeatedly shown us, it is ordinary people who spearhead the greatest victories for justice. Although the task of ending hunger may seem daunting to many, the words from Jeremiah - from which A Future with Hope takes its title - offer us encouragement: "Surely you know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope.