The Women, Infants and Children program, better known as WIC, has just expanded its food choices -- and for the first time in 34 years, fresh, frozen and canned vegetable has been added, as well as yogurt and tofu.
It's evident that income inequality in the United States and abroad is beyond unreasonable. More and more Americans are finding it harder to make ends meet, with 14.5 percent of U.S. households struggling to put enough food on the table. More than 48 million Americans -- including 15.9 million children -- live in these households.
In addition, more than one in five children is at risk of hunger. Among African-Americans and Latinos, nearly one in three children is at risk of hunger, statistics show.
Poverty and birth rates share a dialogue, particularly for Hispanics. Families with children increasingly fall victim to poverty, an epidemic which mounted during the recession; caused by limited access to jobs, low wages, under-education, and high pregnancy rates. This directly relates to Latinas, as they have the highest rate of teen parenthood compared to other major racial or ethnic group in the country.
Eighty percent of U.S. adults confront poverty, joblessness or a dependence on welfare at least once in their lives, according to recent survey conducted by the Associated Press.
