In “For U.S. Hispanics, poverty is growing little relief ahead” (CR, Oct. 13), Dennis Sadowski’s sympathetic report (CR, Oct 13) opened with, “Bundled against a gusty, cool autumn wind . . .”
Two Hispanic high school dropouts, a young man and a young woman, leave friends and family behind and come to the area separately looking for work. Woman meets man, has child out of wedlock and learns “to get along on public assistance and food stamps.” They discover that without a high school education it is difficult to find a job.
Thanks to a religious sister running a food cupboard, I learn the couple is “typical” of a growing number of Puerto Ricans, Mexicans and blacks. The report concludes: “the Pew Hispanic Center in Washington attributed the rapid rise in poverty among Hispanic children to the growing number of Hispanics overall, high birth rates and declining economic fortunes.”
I wondered, will good paying jobs for displaced high school dropouts having children out of wedlock eliminate poverty? Perhaps if I concede contraception and abortion are acceptable options, poverty among children would disappear.
The report saddened me but not for reasons Sadowski tried to evoke.