According to the National Bureau of Economic Research, a private non-profit organization that monitors American business cycles, the Great Recession, which began in December 2007, officially ended in June 2009. It was the longest post-World War II recession, lasting a total of 18 months. The recession is over, but the consequences remain. Despite the June 2009 trough in financial activity, America's economy continues to struggle, with a 25 percent risk of a double-dip recession according to top economic analysts (from Goldman Sachs). Even if America can avoid falling into another recession, the economic situation remains dire. Since the recovery period began, unemployment has remained high and the housing recession continues. Perhaps most heartbreaking is the rise in poverty both in the United States and worldwide. With international attention focused on global poverty this week at the United Nations Millenium Development Summit, now is the time for the Obama administration to step up to the type of "change" America needs. Rising levels of poverty in the United States must necessitate a government-led national dialogue on combating poverty.
According to the US Census Bureau, 2009 was a grim year: Four million more Americans lived in poverty than in the year 2008. Unsurprisingly, 2009 also marked the highest level of poverty in the United States in fifteen years. Forty-four million, or one in seven residents, now live in poverty in the United States. According to the Census Bureau, children have been the worst hit, with one in five American children now living in poverty. Still, some argue that the number of impoverished Americans could have been far worse had the federal government not implemented the highly contentious $787 billion stimulus package
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