From 1987 to 1997, the demand for emergency food and shelter indicate that despite the booming economy and the new prosperity, the number of homeless and those living in extreme poverty in the United States has increased. According to a recent White House press release, the number of homeless at any given time has now reached 750,000.   More  

The past few years of non-stop economic growth has brought prosperity to many, and has led to skyrocketing housing costs that prevent some two-income families from finding a home. Many stories have been written about dotcom millionaires with unlimited resources who cannot find a house to buy in Silicon Valley, and Wall Street warriors who are out-bid on Park Avenue apartments.   More  

On July 26, 1990, President George Bush signed the American with Disabilities Act (ADA) into law, calling the law powerful in its simplicity. But the ADA has proved to be far from simple, and advocates on both sides of the issue have struggled with its vague language about who is and who is not disabled. The Supreme Court has been left to decide those questions. In 1999, the Court ruled that ADA does not protect people with physical corrections that can be corrected, such as poor vision or high blood pressure.   More  

When Mollie Orshansky created a poverty line while working for the Social Security Administration in 1963, she used a U. S. Department of Agriculture-created minimum food budget for a family, and multiplied it by three. By 1969 that measure was being used by the Johnson administration in its War Against Poverty, and, although adjustments have been made for inflation, the government still uses it to define poverty in America. Roughly 35 million, or one of every eight Americans, now lives below the poverty line.   More