Census Bureau: U.S. poverty rises to 15.1%, highest since 1983
Highlights:
Median household income for the nation was $49,400 in 2010, a decline of 2.3% from 2009, when inflation is figured in.
The 2010 official poverty rate for the nation was 15.1%, up from 14.3% in 2009, with 46.2 million people in poverty, an increase of 2.6 million since 2009.
The percentage of people without health insurance coverage in 2010, 16.3%, was not statistically different from the rate in 2009. The number of uninsured increased to 49.9 million in 2010 from 49 million in 2009.
http://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/pdf/2010_Report.pdf
Here's the census with their presentation that brought about the earlier article. If everyone can do me a favor go to slide 7, it says the median income in 1967 was $40,800 and in 2010 it was $49,400.
The Inflation Calculator
Now use this inflation calculator.
What cost $40,800 in 1967 would cost $263,428 in 2010.
What cost $ $40,800 in 2010 would cost $6,239 in 1967.
So income has risen by about 17% in 43 years, and the purchasing power of the dollar has absolutely plummeted. In terms of what you can buy with your dollar that has decreased by about 84% in that same time, so the increase in income hasn't been near enough to make up for the loss in the value of the dollar.
Seems to me that this isn't an issue we can vote our way out of, this seems to me like a Federal Reserve problem.
Highlights:
Median household income for the nation was $49,400 in 2010, a decline of 2.3% from 2009, when inflation is figured in.
The 2010 official poverty rate for the nation was 15.1%, up from 14.3% in 2009, with 46.2 million people in poverty, an increase of 2.6 million since 2009.
The percentage of people without health insurance coverage in 2010, 16.3%, was not statistically different from the rate in 2009. The number of uninsured increased to 49.9 million in 2010 from 49 million in 2009.
http://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/pdf/2010_Report.pdf
Here's the census with their presentation that brought about the earlier article. If everyone can do me a favor go to slide 7, it says the median income in 1967 was $40,800 and in 2010 it was $49,400.
The Inflation Calculator
Now use this inflation calculator.
What cost $40,800 in 1967 would cost $263,428 in 2010.
What cost $ $40,800 in 2010 would cost $6,239 in 1967.
So income has risen by about 17% in 43 years, and the purchasing power of the dollar has absolutely plummeted. In terms of what you can buy with your dollar that has decreased by about 84% in that same time, so the increase in income hasn't been near enough to make up for the loss in the value of the dollar.
Seems to me that this isn't an issue we can vote our way out of, this seems to me like a Federal Reserve problem.