Protesters to Stage Rally Against Poverty

About 300 people are expected to rally at noon at the Statehouse today as part of a nationwide day of protest to mark the 25th anniversary of Michael Harrington's influential book on poverty, "The Other America."

The demonstration, organized by a number of local social activist organizations, will demand increased government aid to the poor in the form of jobs, housing, health care, child care and welfare rights. The protest day, known as National Justice for All, will also call on presidential candidates to give more attention to poverty as a political issue.

"The intent of the rally is to have the question of poverty included in the 1988 presidential debate," said Cheryl M. Christmas, the Boston consultant for National Justice for All and a program associate of Jobs with Peace, one of the local sponsoring groups. "People are treating it as a private issue, not as a public affair. We want to make it more publicized, something to be discussed."

Protesters said that the problem of poverty in America is steadily becoming more serious despite initial advances made after the publication of Harrington's book.

Families and children have replaced elderly people as the majority group among those below the poverty line. Currently, the poorest fifth of the population has 4.6 percent of the nation's wealth, the lowest level since 1955, according to Justice for All. The richest fifth of the population has 43 percent of the wealth.

"Some things have improved over the past 25 years and then gone back down again," said Deborah V. Weinstein, executive director of the Massachussetts Human Services Committee, another sponsor of the rally. "The foodstamp program worked well when it was first set up and then in the last few years--the Reagan years--foodstamp eligibility was cut back and benefits were not keeping up with inflation."

The rally is also a response to continued poverty in this state despite the recent economic boom, according to organizers. During 1985, 56 percent of all Massachusetts single parent families were below the poverty line and 47 percent of families at poverty level received welfare payments, according to Christmas.

"It was not a miracle for everybody," said Weinstein. "In a way the miracle has made some people decline. The economic good times have been bringing more people in and raising prices. For some people it's harder to find jobs and affordable housing."