No life is less valuable than another. 

Save the Date - A Night for Children's Rights 

(his speech begins at 2:10) Fr Gregory Boyle - Keynote Speaker at 2011 UCLA School of Nursing CommencementCommencement

Middle class status increasingly difficult to attain, and children are at the heart of the matter   

Press Release  

 
September 29, 2011, Charlotte, NC - The middle class is increasingly out of reach for Charlotte-Mecklenburg's families, according to the recent release of economic data by the U.S. Census Bureau, as reported by the UNCC Urban Institute. The 2010 data released last week for Mecklenburg County shows that families continue to face higher rates of poverty. The median household income in Mecklenburg County fell almost $5,000 in the last two years, and according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, unemployment increased from 6.1% to 10.9%. Behind these data, children are at the heart of the matter.

One in five children in Charlotte-Mecklenburg is living in poverty, an increase of 49% between 2008 and 2010. That means that in the last two years, almost 16,000 more children are living in poverty - enough to fill over 200 school buses. Poverty disproportionately impacts minorities. One in three African American children is living in poverty, an increase of 55% between 2008 and 2010. And, two in five Hispanic children are living in poverty, an increase of 59% between 2008 and 2010. African-American and Hispanic children are five times more likely to live in poverty than white, non-Hispanic children.

While Mecklenburg County's childhood poverty rate remains lower than North Carolina's child poverty rate, Mecklenburg County's figure increased more dramatically than the state's. North Carolina's childhood poverty rate increased 27% between 2008 and 2010, while Mecklenburg County's increased by almost 50%.