US poverty measure paints bleaker picture

[dajoki]

November 7, 2011 6:26 pm
US poverty measure paints bleaker picture
By Robin Harding in Washington
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/74e8c4fa-0960-11e1-a20c-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1d2ypRTvP

Poverty in the US is even worse than previously thought, according to a new official measure http://www.census.gov/prod/2011pubs/p60-241.pdf that takes better account of the cost of living.

In 2010, 16 per cent of Americans lived in poverty according to a supplemental measure published by the Census Bureau for the first time on Monday, compared with the official figure of 15.1 per cent. That suggests an additional 2.5m Americans are poor: 49.1m rather than 46.6m by the official definition.

The supplementary figure illustrates how rising costs for health and childcare have added to poverty and paints a different picture of which Americans are poor. It may influence the current debate in Washington about how to reduce the US budget deficit by showing the role that programmes such as income tax credits and food stamps play to control poverty.

The official measure, introduced in the 1960s, compares income before tax to a threshold of three times the cost of a basic diet of food. In 2010, for a family of two adults and two children, that threshold was $22,113.

But the official measure takes no account of changes to tax and benefits that affect after-tax income, costs that have increased in time, such as medical care or the higher cost of living in some parts of the US.

Adjusting for these factors increases the average poverty threshold to $24,343 and suggests that the demographics of US poverty are different.

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[cyrakitty]

1. This is amazing to me.

This is devastating. We are supposed to be the "best country" and "the land of opportunity" - what happened? I have been thinking back and trying to place my finger on the time or event that spun things around. The USA has been a sinking ship for some time now and I am not sure if I should stay and help bail or give up and find another ship.

It is so easy to feel small and insignificant and that my voice will never be heard. But that is why the OWS movement gives me such hope. It lets the people who feel small know that they are not alone - not even by a long shot.

We are the 99% and we need to take our country back!

:rant:

[izquierdista]

4. "Morning in America" happened

Little did we know that 30 years later we would be "mourning for America".

[midnight]

2. The poverty that has been blatant in places like Milwaukee County, a wrecking

zone for Scott Walker, has been ignored along with the rest of the poverty ravaged communities.... The people in these communities are dismissed as somehow not wanting anything better... Recently however, in Milwaukee, there is some discussion about the difficulty of those who are living off of food stamps. Families, not at the poverty level, are being challenged to live off of something as meager as 300 or 330 dollars a month for food. This amount is equivalent to that of a family of four on food stamps...

[defendandprotect]

3. Obama and Dems are certainly banging the drums to help poor and homeless -- !!!

:sarcasm: