Sonny Clark
Diamond Member
- Banned
- #1
The Real Numbers: Half of America Is in Poverty -- and It's Creeping Upward
The costs of food and housing and education and health care and transportation and child care and taxes have been well-defined by organizations such as the Economic Policy Institute, which calculated that a U.S. family of three would require an average of about $48,000 a year to meet basic needs; and by the Working Poor Families Project, which estimates the income required for basic needs for a family of four at about $45,000. The median household income is $51,000.
The following discussion pertains to the half of America that is in or near poverty, the people rarely seen by Congress.
(1) -- The Official Poverty Threshold Should Be Much Higher
The original poverty measures were (and still are) based largely on the food costs of the 1950s. But while food costs have doubled since 1978, housing has more than tripled, medical expenses are six times higher, and college tuition is eleven times higher. The Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Census Bureau have calculated that food, housing, health care, child care, transportation, taxes, and other household expenditures consume nearly the entire median household income.
(2) -- Almost Half of Americans Own, on Average, NOTHING
The bottom half of America own just 1.1% of the country's wealth, or about $793 billion, which is the same amount owned by the 30 richest Americans. ZERO wealth is owned by approximately the bottom 47 percent.
(3) -- Half of Americans are "Poor" or "Low-Income"
This is based on the Census Department's Relative Poverty Measure (Table 4), which is "most commonly used in developed countries to measure poverty." The Economic Policy Institute uses the term "economically vulnerable." With this standard, 18 percent of Americans are below the poverty threshold and 32 percent are below twice the threshold, putting them in the low-income category.
The official poverty rate increased by 25 percent between 2000 and 2011. Seniors and children feel the greatest impact, with 55 percent of the elderly and almost 60 percent of children classified as poor or low-income under the relative poverty measure. Wider Opportunities for Women reports that "60% of women age 65 and older who live alone or live with a spouse have incomes insufficient to cover basic, daily expenses."
(4) -- It's Much Worse for Black Families
Incredibly, while America's total wealth has risen from $12 trillion to $77 trillion in 25 years, the median net worth for black households has GONE DOWN over approximately the same time, from $7,150 to $6,446, adjusted for inflation. State of Working America reports that almost half of black children under the age of six are living in poverty.
(5) -- Nearly Half of American Households Don't Have Enough to Hold Them for 3 Months
That's according to the Corporation for Enterprise Development. Even more striking, a survey by Bankrate.com concluded that only one in four Americans has "six months' worth of expenses for use in emergency, the minimum recommended by many financial planning experts."
The Real Numbers Half of America Is in Poverty -- and It s Creeping Upward Alternet
What was once the richest nation on Earth, has fallen, and is headed towards third world status. Prosperity and opportunity is no longer a given quantity in America. Our government has failed us, and it's obvious that it has no intentions to lift us up and out of an economic downward spiral. We are a nation of debt, dependency, homelessness, and growing poverty. As many reports indicate, this is a trend that has become entrenched and embedded do deeply, that only a miracle can save us from economic devastation.
The questions become, "how can we reverse this trend, and is it even possible at this stage to reverse it?"
The costs of food and housing and education and health care and transportation and child care and taxes have been well-defined by organizations such as the Economic Policy Institute, which calculated that a U.S. family of three would require an average of about $48,000 a year to meet basic needs; and by the Working Poor Families Project, which estimates the income required for basic needs for a family of four at about $45,000. The median household income is $51,000.
The following discussion pertains to the half of America that is in or near poverty, the people rarely seen by Congress.
(1) -- The Official Poverty Threshold Should Be Much Higher
The original poverty measures were (and still are) based largely on the food costs of the 1950s. But while food costs have doubled since 1978, housing has more than tripled, medical expenses are six times higher, and college tuition is eleven times higher. The Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Census Bureau have calculated that food, housing, health care, child care, transportation, taxes, and other household expenditures consume nearly the entire median household income.
(2) -- Almost Half of Americans Own, on Average, NOTHING
The bottom half of America own just 1.1% of the country's wealth, or about $793 billion, which is the same amount owned by the 30 richest Americans. ZERO wealth is owned by approximately the bottom 47 percent.
(3) -- Half of Americans are "Poor" or "Low-Income"
This is based on the Census Department's Relative Poverty Measure (Table 4), which is "most commonly used in developed countries to measure poverty." The Economic Policy Institute uses the term "economically vulnerable." With this standard, 18 percent of Americans are below the poverty threshold and 32 percent are below twice the threshold, putting them in the low-income category.
The official poverty rate increased by 25 percent between 2000 and 2011. Seniors and children feel the greatest impact, with 55 percent of the elderly and almost 60 percent of children classified as poor or low-income under the relative poverty measure. Wider Opportunities for Women reports that "60% of women age 65 and older who live alone or live with a spouse have incomes insufficient to cover basic, daily expenses."
(4) -- It's Much Worse for Black Families
Incredibly, while America's total wealth has risen from $12 trillion to $77 trillion in 25 years, the median net worth for black households has GONE DOWN over approximately the same time, from $7,150 to $6,446, adjusted for inflation. State of Working America reports that almost half of black children under the age of six are living in poverty.
(5) -- Nearly Half of American Households Don't Have Enough to Hold Them for 3 Months
That's according to the Corporation for Enterprise Development. Even more striking, a survey by Bankrate.com concluded that only one in four Americans has "six months' worth of expenses for use in emergency, the minimum recommended by many financial planning experts."
The Real Numbers Half of America Is in Poverty -- and It s Creeping Upward Alternet
What was once the richest nation on Earth, has fallen, and is headed towards third world status. Prosperity and opportunity is no longer a given quantity in America. Our government has failed us, and it's obvious that it has no intentions to lift us up and out of an economic downward spiral. We are a nation of debt, dependency, homelessness, and growing poverty. As many reports indicate, this is a trend that has become entrenched and embedded do deeply, that only a miracle can save us from economic devastation.
The questions become, "how can we reverse this trend, and is it even possible at this stage to reverse it?"
