Gender Bias Increases Poverty

By Rori Picker, Associate for Interfaith Relations, RFP-USA

Can inequality between men and women lead to health problems for children and poverty for the entire family? According to a new study, it most certainly does.

The study released by UNICEF today, entitled “Women and Children: The Double Dividend of Gender Equality,” asserts that there would be 13 million fewer malnourished children in South Asia if women had an equal say in the family.

UNICEF surveyed family decision-making in 30 countries around the world and found that whoever brought in the greater share of household income and assets decided whether those resources would be used to meet family needs. In situations where men controlled the household, less money was spent on health care and food for the family, resulting in undernourished children and an increased number of health problems.

The study also found that women worked longer hours than men in the developing world. In many families where women worked, daughters were taken out of school to perform household chores and take care of the younger children, continuing the cycle of undereducated females with inferior employment opportunities.

We must remember that these dialogues cannot exist independently. We cannot discuss peace without discussing poverty. We cannot discuss poverty without discussing equality. And we cannot discuss any of it without committing ourselves to taking concrete steps to improve opportunities for women around the world.

Women must enter this discussion. Our children depend on it.

America's Growth Spurt

By Rori Picker, Associate for Interfaith Relations, RFP-USA

According to a recent article in the Washington Post, the population of America is expected to reach 300 million within the coming week. America is the third most populous nation, trailing behind China and India. With an estimated growth rate of one person every 11 seconds, it would seem that America, currently in its 230th year, is still in a growth spurt, and a rapidly increasing one at that.

After the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776, it took the country 139 years to reach 100 million in 1915, then only 52 years to reach the 200 million mark in 1967, and now another 39 years to achieve 300 million. According to census projections, the next 100 million will take only 37 years. According to William H. Frey, a demographer with the Brookings Institute, a change in immigration law in 1965 unintentionally reignited immigration-led population.

As the population rises, though, so does the quality of life. Longevity has increased to 78 years, the percentage of adults with a high-school diploma has reached 85 percent, homeownership has risen to 69 percent, and the cost of a gallon of milk is half its cost in 1967. Immigration may yield even further benefits. Frey believes that foreign-born residents and their children will surge into the workforce, and their payroll taxes will help reduce funding shortfalls for Social Security and other social programs that benefit older people.

However, this assumes that immigrant children will be educated well enough in American schools to find competitive jobs in the global economy. Poverty rates for children have exceeded poverty rates for the elderly for more than 40 years, and Hispanic and black children are between three and four times as likely to live in poverty as whites.

With elections looming in November, immigration has once again risen to the forefront of debate. Political rhetoric is rife with discussions of securing American borders and protecting American jobs. Yet we must ask: Is immigration failing us, or are we failing our immigrant children? By putting their lives and their futures at risk, are we not simply risking our own?