In today’s rundown: New census numbers give a clearer picture of what poverty looks like in the D.C. region and how the recession is impacting this area. Plus, why two lawmakers have put a hold on a request for a national women’s history museum in the District.
— New census statistics show that three out of 10 children in the District lived in poverty last year, “with the number of poor African American children rising at a breathtaking rate,” according to The Washington Post. The number of children living in poverty also rose in the counties surrounding D.C.
— Those same numbers show that the recession has had a disparate impact on D.C., according to the DC Fiscal Policy Institute. DCFPI reports that poverty rates jumped especially sharply for children, black residents, and residents living east of the Anacostia River.
— According to Jezebel.com: “Senators Tom Coburn and Jim DeMint won’t let the Smithsonian lease space to a women’s history museum — because the ladies already have their quilting museums, and because someone told them the museum was going to be pro-abortion. Seriously.”
