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Dear Hunter,


The Census Bureau delivered historic poverty data in September, with more than 46 million Americans now living under the poverty line, the most on record. Talking heads debated this grim news back and forth and up and down, but very few noticed the most striking news in the Bureaus announcement.


The group most affected by this crisis is kids; today, almost 1 in 4 kids live in poverty.


Our kids at the center of a national poverty epidemic isnt just a moral crisis today, it threatens our economic future. According to the Center for American Progress, childhood poverty costs our nation $500 billion a year in lost economic growth, health care costs, criminal justice, and more.


This is not the way it was meant to be. In the mid-1960s, when my father, Sargent Shriver, led President Johnsons ambitious War on Poverty, rates for kids and seniors both stood at approximately 25 percent. Ten years later, the rates dropped almost ten points for both groups.


Today, while the senior poverty rate is at a historic low of nine percent, the poverty rate for children has swelled back to nearly 25 percent -- or 16 million kids.


I wrote about this phenomenon on the editorial page of The New York Times ( http://e2ma.net/go/7568500015/207329918/225503458/1365043/goto:http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/20/opinion/children-in-poverty.html ), blogged about it on The Huffington Post ( http://e2ma.net/go/7568500015/207329918/225503459/1365043/goto:http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mark-kennedy-shriver/the-highest-poverty-numbe_b_960325.html ), and spoke out about it on The Today Show ( http://e2ma.net/go/7568500015/207329918/225503460/1365043/goto:http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/26184891/vp/44547178#44547178 ).


The cycle of poverty will relentlessly persist unless we act. And the place for action is where it has always been: the classroom.


Last week, NBC News held its annual Education Nation ( http://e2ma.net/go/7568500015/207329918/225503461/1365043/goto:http://www.educationnation.com/ ) event, convening leaders from across the nation to engage in a dialogue about the state of education.


Save the Childrens U.S. Programs was honored to play a role, putting forth one simple proposition: a meaningful investment in early childhood education is the best path to a more secure, vibrant and prosperous future.


Our artist ambassador Jennifer Garner and I were on hand Monday, delivering our message together on The Today Show ( http://e2ma.net/go/7568500015/207329918/225503462/1365043/goto:http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/26184891/vp/44670244#44670244 ). Jennifer also participated in a panel ( http://e2ma.net/go/7568500015/207329918/225503463/1365043/goto:http://www.educationnation.com/index.cfm?objectid=A479D3A8-E875-11E0-B00E000C296BA163 )on early childhood education at the Education Nation Summit, joined by five other leaders in this area. I also appeared on MSNBC ( http://e2ma.net/go/7568500015/207329918/225503464/1365043/goto:http://www.bing.com/videos/watch/video/focusing-more-resources-on-pre-k/69l9vrn?cpkey=89a48fb2-51d1-4dd1-afba-e9873f813256%7C%7C%7C%7C ) as well as WNBC.


At the end of the day Monday, Jennifer and I blogged about our experience on The Huffington Post ( http://e2ma.net/go/7568500015/207329918/225503465/1365043/goto:http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mark-kennedy-shriver/education-nation-nbc_b_982373.html ).


As I hope you know, it is clear that the opportunity and the solutions to the poverty crisis are right in front of us. The challenge remains in our will to act.


Thats all for this month. As always, please let me know if you have any questions or ideas.


Warmly,


Mark


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Mark Shriver

Senior Vice President, U.S. Programs

Save the Children


Phone: (202) 640-6627
mshriver@savechildren.org (mailto:mshriver@savechildren.org)


(mailto:mshriver@savechildren.org)

2000 L Street, NW Suite 500 | Washington, DC 20036 US


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