IV On Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
The United States is the richest in the world, but its poverty rate is also
the highest among the developed countries. In the United States, problems such
as poverty, hunger and homelessness are quite serious, and the economic, social
and cultural rights of working people are not guaranteed.
A study of eight advanced countries by London School of Economics in 2005
found that the United States had the worst social inequality, Reuters reported
on April 25, 2005. The poverty rate of the United States is the highest in the
developed world and more than twice as high as in most other industrialized
countries (Newsweek, The Other America, Sept. 19, 2005). In recent years the
fortunes of the rich have continued to rise in the United States. According to
two new studies by Spectrem Group, a Chicago-based wealth-research firm, and the
Boston Consulting Group, millionaire households (excluding the value of primary
residences) in the United States controlled more than 11 trillion dollars in
assets in 2004, up more than 8 percent from 2003 ( Millionaire Ranks Hit New
High, Wall Street Journal, May 25, 2005). Meanwhile, the income of ordinary
employees in the United States has seen a sharp decline, causing the increase of
poor population. The data issued by the U.S. Census Bureau said that the
nation's official poverty rate rose from 12.5 percent in 2003 to 12.7 percent in
2004, with the number of people in poverty rising by 1.1 million from 35.9
million to 37 million, which meansone in eight Americans lived in poverty.
Poverty rates in cities such as Detroit, Miami and Newark exceeded 28 percent.
The New York Times reported on Nov 22, 2005 that in 2004 3.9 million families
had members who were undernourished.
Homelessness is a serious problem. The USA Today reported that a snapshot
tally conducted in June 2005 found 727,304 homeless people nationwide, meaning
about one in 400 Americans were without a home (National Count of Homeless Puts
Issue In Human Terms, USA Today, Oct. 12 2005). According to a survey by the
United States Conference of Mayors in 24 cities including Chicago, Boston and
Los Angeles, requests for emergency shelter in 2005 increased in the survey
cities by an average of 6 percent from a year earlier, with 71 percent of the
cities registering an increase. Requests for emergency food assistance increased
by an average of 12 percent, with 76 percent of the cities registering an
increase. More than 3,100 families with nearly 6,000 children apply for
emergency shelter in Washington D.C. annually, with many sleeping on the streets
or in cars or bus stations (Lifting up the Poor, Letters To the Editor,
Washington Post, Oct. 28, 2005). The Los Angeles Times reported on June 16, 2005
that Los Angeles County has become "the homeless capital of America," with the
average number of vagabonds or people in shelters hitting 90,000 a day,
including 35,000 people chronically homeless.
