Posted on 12/15/2011 5:33:19 AM PST by markomalley
Squeezed by rising living costs, a record number of Americans — nearly 1 in 2 — have fallen into poverty or are scraping by on earnings that classify them as low income.
The latest census data depict a middle class that's shrinking as unemployment stays high and the government's safety net frays. The new numbers follow years of stagnating wages for the middle class that have hurt millions of workers and families.
"Safety net programs such as food stamps and tax credits kept poverty from rising even higher in 2010, but for many low-income families with work-related and medical expenses, they are considered too 'rich' to qualify," said Sheldon Danziger, a University of Michigan public policy professor who specializes in poverty.
"The reality is that prospects for the poor and the near poor are dismal," he said. "If Congress and the states make further cuts, we can expect the number of poor and low-income families to rise for the next several years."
(Excerpt) Read more at cbsnews.com ...
Poor means they can only afford one big-screen TV.
Listening to Rush, you know he or his staff read this thread earlier.
I just got back from the camp PX, and there was a black lady who was very obese. She actually waddled across the parking lot to her car.
Obama needs four more years to complete his job on our country.
No, but that was an entirely different sort of poor or low income. They really did go to bed hungry. I don’t believe the stats on hunger in America today either. No one in this country today *has* to go to bed hungry.
BTW my Dad was raised in an orphanage during the depression. His Dad died in 1932 and his Mom could not take care of the 4 kids. He said they actually had a good life there, ate well (there was a farm and the kids did help, altho he said it was not back breaking labor, more like chores—but they always had fresh stuff from the farm). He lived there from the time he was 10 until he was 17, I think. It was not state run, but run by a church. He doesn’t have anything bad to say about it. I think in many ways he was better off there. They attended school, they attended church and he’s an awesome person today. Seems like a better system than the current foster care system I read about in the papers.
About 97.3 million Americans fall into a low-income category, commonly defined as those earning between 100 and 199 percent of the poverty level, based on a new supplemental measure by the Census Bureau that is designed to provide a fuller picture of poverty.
So basicly they doubled the metric for "poor".
Together with the 49.1 million who fall below the poverty line and are counted as poor, they number 146.4 million, or 48 percent of the U.S. population.
The new measure of poverty takes into account medical, commuting and other living costs as well as taxes.
Broken down by age, children were most likely to be poor or low-income — about 57 percent — followed by seniors 65 and over.
Ah, but seniors 65 and older are eligible for Medicare, so since the new "poor" metric has been increased due to medical costs, commuting costs, and taxes, retirees have Medicare, don't commute, and have much lower tax bills, so shouldn't they be counted differently?
Also, up to 200% of the poverty level is the qualification of Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), or free health care for kids. Pelosi wanted the limit to be 300% of the poverty level, but the backlash was so great the Dims had to lower it to 200%. Still it means if a family is at 199% of the poverty level they don't have to incur the medical costs for their children.
Following the recession that began in late 2007, the share of working families who are low income has risen for three straight years to 31.2 percent, or 10.2 million.
This suggests there are only 32.7 million working families in the U.S., out of 78.6 million family households. This would mean only 42% of family households have wage earners, and 58% do not. If this is correct, it is frightening statistic. Granted, there are a significant number of families composed of older retired couples, but it still would mean a close to half of families have no wage earner.
The majority of low-income families — 62 percent — spent more than one-third of their earnings on housing, surpassing a common guideline for what is considered affordable.
Is this really unusual or relevant to the discussion of poor people? The current Front-End Ratio upper limit of mortgage payment to gross income is 28%. It was higher in the past (in the 30s, as I recall), and as high as 50% with some subprime loans. In fact, the poverty pimps were complaining at the FHA lowering the standard below 30% after the housing collapse.
The current debt-to-income ratio is set at 36%, but for some lenders it was at 50% for subprime loans.
I am sure the poor have always had a larger percentage of people paying more the 1/3rd of their income towards housing.
But the real truth is this: Obama is manipulating the jobs and unemployment numbers, but at the same time, more and more people are poor. I don't understand how it is possible to be in "Recovery Winter", with more and more people working thanks to Dear Leader, and simultaneously have people getting poorer.
If you root out the variance, you can have a standard deviation any time.
Are they counting CHILDREN who have NO INCOME, but their parents could be upper middle class????
This would mean that over 150 MILLION people are poor!!
Hogwash!! LIES!
The headline is wrong. Should be half the country is on wellfare and the other half is being driven into the poorhouse.
Dunno that much about the third world, but everyday, something strikes me about life here and how wonderful it is.
The one that keeps smacking me between the eyes is the idea that we can deliver potable water in such huge quantities that we bathe in it or even use it to flush our waste. AMAZING!
If life in the USA isn’t “good” for someone, then something is wrong with the person, not the country!
When I’m Dictator, there will be mandatory field trips to water purification plants, sewage processing plants, and power plants so that the little brats will have some idea of what it takes to keep their own little world turning. Older kids will get to visit farms, ranches, feed lots, and slaughter houses. And commercial distribution cents. They need learn where their food comes from and how it gets to them.
Then you are one of the few who are wise enough to see how good life is, without first seeing how bad it can be.
Not enough people have that ability.
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