Erin Masterson
Mrs.Brewer
Honors English 10
4 Freedoms Essay
Decemberm 10, 2012
Freedom From Want
On January 6, 1941 Franklin D. Roosevelt stated that there were 4 essential human freedoms. The third essential freedom was freedom from want. America, even today, still is not free from want. Thousands of Americans are starving, remain jobless, and even abandoned on the streets because they have no homes. We live in the world's wealthiest nation. Yet 14.5 percent of U.S. households—nearly 49 million Americans, including 16.2 million children—struggle to put food on the table. In the United States alone more than one in five children is at risk of hunger. 20 million students receive free or reduced lunch each day; however, less than half receive breakfast and only 10 percent have access to summer feeding programs. Although 81.3 percent of eligible infants are enrolled in WIC, the program reaches just 47.3 percent of eligible children ages 1 to 4. (Bread for the World) The unemployment rate in the United States decreased to 7.70 percent in November of 2012 from 7.90 percent in October of 2012 (Trading Economics ). In the past, from 1948 until 2012, the United States Unemployment Rate averaged 5.80 Percent reaching an all-time high of 10.80 percent in November of 1982 and a record low of 2.50 percent in May of 1953. In the United States, the unemployment rate measures the number of people actively looking for a job as a percentage of the labor force.

Each year, more than 3 million people experience homelessness, including 1.3 million children. One-third of the homeless population is made up of families. The recession will force 1.5 million more people into homelessness over the next two years. In a 2008 report, the U.S. Conference of Mayors cited a major increase in the number of homeless in 19 out of the 25 cities surveyed. On average, cities reported a