Child poverty referendum: doing it for the children

Connecticut is a state of mixed blessings: leading the nation in per capita income, yet still struggling with hunger and child poverty along with the rest of the nation. Ward One Alderman Julio Gonzalez, CC '99, with the help of Yale students, is helping to introduce legislation to address child poverty and hunger in New Haven.

Gonzalez, currently running for his second term, is taking an active part in launching New Haven's campaign for child welfare with his work on a new referendum on child poverty that will appear on the city's November ballot. The referendum envisions four specific guarantees for the city's children: education, housing, food security, and health care. Gonzalez has played an active role in working with local officials on the composition and language of the referendum. "This referendum will get a small group of people very educated and very agitated [about child poverty]," Gonzalez said.

Running unopposed this fall, Gonzalez plans to focus his term on putting the welfare of New Haven's youth population at the forefront of the city's agenda. He believes two reasons child poverty is on the rise in Connecticut are the drop in real wages and the stringent state welfare policy. The 21-month limit on welfare for families is one of the strictest in the nation and has been criticized for sinking more families and children into poverty. With the concern in mind that struggling families are more likely to have hungry children, he has actively campaigned in the past to promote a higher standard of living by advocating a "living wage" for city workers, and he has encouraged more active use of food stamps. Dwight Hall coordinator Anika Singh, BR '01, echoed Gonzalez's insistence that addressing child poverty also means addressing its causes. "I personally wish to see the political issues behind the daily problems many of those children face better addressed by students, community members, and government," Singh said.

The impetus for the referendum came in response to a series of recently released national figures on poverty and hunger. Connecticut, despite boasting the highest per capita income in the nation, has a poverty rate that is consistent with other less affluent states: 8.8 percent of all Connecticut households were at risk of hunger between 1996 and 1998, according to a report released on Thurs., Oct. 14, by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Another recent study conducted by the Connecticut Association for Human Resources found that 40 percent of emergency food sites in the state have seen a rise in demand this year. In the city of New Haven alone, the increase in demand for such sites was 22 percent. New federal rankings also show the state of Connecticut falling from third to somewhere in the mid-20s among the 50 states in providing child welfare.

Yale students, including members affiliated with the Yale College Democrats and Dwight Hall, are working to show local officials that the referendum is a demand for action, not simply a statement of abstract principle. Jonathan Thessin, MC '00, president of the Yale College Democrats, believes that the referendum will pass with a comfortable margin but stressed the importance of accomplishing reforms more than simply giving lip service to an important piece of social legislation. "New Haven has the good fortune of having many strong, community-based groups and issue advocacy organizations," he explained. "This referendum is serving as a rallying point for these disparate groups to work together to push for a unified vision."

Graphic by Shawn Cheng.

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