Child Poverty in the United States: The Need for a Constitutional Amendment and a Cultural Sea Change By Robert C. Fellmeth Johnny S. was eleven years old and his homeless mother had his five-year-old sister to worry about. So she left him on a street corner in Ocean Beach, a neighborhood in San Diego. Johnny looked for his mom for four days before he was picked up by social workers. He scrounged for odd jobs and conned a restaurant manager into letting him wash dishes for three hours a night, earning just over $135. When the social workers found him, he had every penny in his pockets. He had confined himself to just one meal at the restaurant because “Mom needs [the money].” Johnny is a bright-eyed boy with above average intelligence. However, he has a slight stoop due to a correctable bone malformation, and his teeth have painful cavities. He has not been to school for two years. He presents a microcosm of child poverty in America: a child with strong potential and admirable character but with health problems, an educational deficit, and likely relegation to group home foster care or to the streets. Regrettably, Johnny is not unique. He lives in our wealthiest state and, until gathered up, was sleeping under bushes by the beach, in the shadows of $5 million homes.
Understanding Poverty in America by Robert E. Rector and Kirk A. Johnson, Ph.D.
For most Americans, the word "poverty" suggests destitution: an inability to provide a family with nutritious food, clothing, and reasonable shelter. But only a small number of the 35 million persons classified as "poor" by the Census Bureau fit that description. While real material hardship certainly does occur, it is limited in scope and severity. Most of America's "poor" live in material conditions that would be judged as comfortable or well-off just a few generations ago. Today, the expenditures per person of the lowest-income one-fifth (or quintile) of households equal those of the median American household in the early 1970s, after adjusting for inflation.1
The following are facts about persons defined as "poor" by the Census Bureau, taken from various government reports:
Forty-six percent of all poor households actually own their own homes. The average home owned by persons classified as poor by the Census Bureau is a three-bedroom house with one-and-a-half baths, a garage, and a porch or patio. Seventy-six percent of poor households have air conditioning. By contrast, 30 years ago, only 36 percent of the entire U.S. population enjoyed air conditioning. Only 6 percent of poor households are overcrowded. More than two-thirds have more than two rooms per person. The average poor American has more living space than the average individual living in Paris, London, Vienna, Athens, and other cities throughout Europe. (These comparisons are to the average citizens in foreign countries, not to those classified as poor.) Nearly three-quarters of poor households own a car; 30 percent own two or more cars. Ninety-seven percent of poor households have a color television; over half own two or more color televisions. Seventy-eight percent have a VCR or DVD player; 62 percent have cable or satellite TV reception. Seventy-three percent own microwave ovens, more than half have a stereo, and a third have an automatic dishwasher. As a group, America's poor are far from being chronically undernourished. The average consumption of protein, vitamins, and minerals is virtually the same for poor and middle-class children and, in most cases, is well above recommended norms. Poor children actually consume more meat than do higher-income children and have average protein intakes 100 percent above recommended levels. Most poor children today are, in fact, supernourished and grow up to be, on average, one inch taller and 10 pounds heavier that the GIs who stormed the beaches of Normandy in World War II.
To understand the relationship between poverty and living conditions, a multifaceted understanding of what it means to be poor is required. In one sense, the answer to the question "What does it mean to be poor?" is straightforward--having cash income below the official poverty line for a given family size. In a broader sense, the living conditions of the poor are difficult to measure, both because annual cash income is only one factor related to living conditions, and because the poor are quite heterogeneous. http://www.questia.com/googleScholar.qst;jsessionid=JSLGJH1fnzrV99vFGzLBJH9nQ9B122G21sGY3v4QnxT5JFl30h4H!2004912927!1507451015?docId=5000375107
Each year, the U.S. Census Bureau counts the number of "poor" persons in the U.S. In 2005, the Bureau found 37 million "poor" Americans. Presidential candidate John Edwards claims that these 37 million Americans currently "struggle with incredible poverty." Edwards asserts that America's poor, who number "one in eight of us…do not have enough money for the food, shelter, and clothing they need," and are forced to live in "terrible" circumstances.However, an examination of the living standards of the 37 million persons, whom the government defines as "poor," reveals that what Edwards calls "the plague"of American poverty might not be as "terrible" or "incredible" as candidate Edwards contends. http://brittonsbitsforpolicy.blogspot.com/2009/03/impoverished-americans.html
Robert E. Rector and Kirk A. Johnson, Ph.D. January 5, 2004
Overall, the typical American defined as poor by the government has a car, air conditioning, a refrigerator, a stove, a clothes washer and dryer, and a microwave. He has two color televisions, cable or satellite TV reception, a VCR or DVD player, and a stereo. He is able to obtain medical care. His home is in good repair and is not overcrowded. By his own report, his family is not hungry and he had sufficient funds in the past year to meet his family's essential needs. While this individual's life is not opulent, it is equally far from the popular images of dire poverty conveyed by the press, liberal activists, and politicians.
("what does it mean to be poor in amaerica?" Maya Federman, 1996)
An examination of a variety of measures of material well-being shows those individuals living in poor families, in single-parent families, and in families receiving welfare to be significantly worse off than those living in nonpoor families. This article represents an effort to get closer to the answer by summarizing findings from nine national surveys that shed light on the living conditions of individuals living in poor and nonpoor families. This work represents a coordinated effort of representatives of various Federal agencies that produce and analyze data from nationally representative surveys.
BOOYA!! i just turned my education aff critical!!
(http://education.byu.edu/arts/documents/theimpoverishmentofamericanculturebydanagioia.doc, "The Impoverishment of American Culture," DANA GIOIA 2007)
The same was true of literature. I first encountered Robert Frost, John Steinbeck, Lillian Hellman and James Baldwin on general-interest TV shows. All of these people were famous to the average American -- because the culture considered them important. Today no working-class kid would encounter that range of arts and ideas in the popular culture. Almost everything in our national culture, even the news, has been reduced to entertainment, or altogether eliminated.
The loss of recognition for artists, thinkers and scientists has impoverished our culture in innumerable ways, but let me mention one. When virtually all of a culture's celebrated figures are in sports or entertainment, how few possible role models we offer the young. There are so many other ways to lead a successful and meaningful life that are not denominated by money or fame. Adult life begins in a child's imagination, and we've relinquished that imagination to the marketplace.
mwahahahahaha...this article also talks about how the education system is the only way to solve...thats right ashley is amazing...
ok, so for this topic to be really fun, we cant just look at "social services", we have to look at "persons in poverty" too. Having an income below the poverty level is ok, but that should not confine the topic. we need to look at poverty not only in economic implications, but also socially and spiritually (DO I HEAR BUDDHISM?).
What does it mean to be poor in America? Maya Federman, Thesia I. Garner, Kathleen Short, W Bowman Cutter IV, John Kiely, David Levine, Duane McDough, and Marilyn McMillen http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/1996/05/art1abs.htm
An examination of a variety of measures of material well-being shows those individuals living in poor families, in single-parent families, and in families receiving welfare to be significantly worse off than those living in nonpoor families. This article represents an effort to get closer to the answer by summarizing findings from nine national surveys that shed light on the living conditions of individuals living in poor and nonpoor families. This work represents a coordinated effort of representatives of various Federal agencies that produce and analyze data from nationally representative surveys.
The changing face of poverty
Millions of Americans live in poverty, more families are suffering and hunger is seen growing. December 30, 2004: 1:14 PM EST By Octavio Blanco, CNN/Money staff writer http://money.cnn.com/2004/12/22/news/economy/poverty_overview/index.htm
NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Poverty and hunger are problems that many Americans relegate to the Third World. But the steady growth of poverty has left millions of American families afraid they won't have enough money to put food on the table.
According to the most recent Census Bureau statistics, nearly 36 million Americans lived in poverty in 2003, an increase of 1.3 million from 2002. And since 2000, 4.4 million more people in this country are living in poverty. The Census Bureau defines poverty as an individual earning $9,393 or less and $14,680 or less for a family of three.
And American families are faring worse than they have in years. Last year 7.6 million American families -- or 10 percent of all families -- lived in poverty, a big jump from 2000.
The rich get richer ... But these figures don't complete the story.
Jared Bernstein, a labor economist with the Economic Policy Institute, a liberal think tank, said the growth in the number of poor should give us pause, but even more troubling is the growing disparity in America between who is rich and who is poor.
In the last few decades, pay for wealthier Americans has risen dramatically -- fueled by growth in salaries, bonuses, stock options and other compensation, Bernstein said. But wages for millions of lower-wage workers have dwindled. Many have lost their jobs altogether.
Poverty in America Working without healthcare Hard at work, but can't buy food
This "wedge" has prevented the benefits of economic growth from being spread equally. In addition, the current economic recovery is the weakest since World War II in terms of job growth.
Traditionally, the United States has used economic growth and job creation to reduce poverty, but in today's world that's only meaningful to the extent that wage inequality is reduced, Bernstein said.
"The U.S. economy has experienced three years of recovery, yet poverty has continued to go up," he said.
In fact, the latest numbers show that nearly 6 percent of all working Americans lived in poverty last year -- a level that's remained stubbornly high.
Also surprising: the rise in the number of married couples in poverty, since they are traditionally the most resilient demographic. In 2003, 3.1 million married couples lived in poverty, with 53 percent of poor families headed by a married couple, a dramatic increase from 2001 when 2.8 million married couples were poor.
William Dickens, an economist with the Brookings Institution, agrees that the gap between rich and poor is widening, but he says, "in the last 30 years, it has taken robust economic growth for wage gains at the bottom of the income bracket. In general, this has not been a roaring recovery."
But Dickens says even in this period of weak economic recovery, workers can get by, if they are educated and flexible enough. More education translates to better pay, according to Dickens.
But as skilled American workers compete with a growing number of well educated and cheaper overseas workers, the wage gap in the U.S. will most likely continue to grow, says Kent Hughes, an economist with the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington DC. Hughes believes that the already limber American worker is going to have to become even more flexible as jobs traditionally reserved for white-collar American workers, such as computer programming, are being done more cheaply abroad.
December 30, 2004: By Octavio Blanco, CNN/Money staff writer http://money.cnn.com/2004/12/22/news/economy/poverty_overview/index.htm
NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Poverty and hunger are problems that many Americans relegate to the Third World. But the steady growth of poverty has left millions of American families afraid they won't have enough money to put food on the table.
According to the most recent Census Bureau statistics, nearly 36 million Americans lived in poverty in 2003, an increase of 1.3 million from 2002. And since 2000, 4.4 million more people in this country are living in poverty. The Census Bureau defines poverty as an individual earning $9,393 or less and $14,680 or less for a family of three.
And American families are faring worse than they have in years. Last year 7.6 million American families -- or 10 percent of all families -- lived in poverty, a big jump from 2000.
The rich get richer ... But these figures don't complete the story.
Jared Bernstein, a labor economist with the Economic Policy Institute, a liberal think tank, said the growth in the number of poor should give us pause, but even more troubling is the growing disparity in America between who is rich and who is poor.
In the last few decades, pay for wealthier Americans has risen dramatically -- fueled by growth in salaries, bonuses, stock options and other compensation, Bernstein said. But wages for millions of lower-wage workers have dwindled. Many have lost their jobs altogether.
Poverty in America Working without healthcare Hard at work, but can't buy food
This "wedge" has prevented the benefits of economic growth from being spread equally. In addition, the current economic recovery is the weakest since World War II in terms of job growth.
Traditionally, the United States has used economic growth and job creation to reduce poverty, but in today's world that's only meaningful to the extent that wage inequality is reduced, Bernstein said.
"The U.S. economy has experienced three years of recovery, yet poverty has continued to go up," he said.
In fact, the latest numbers show that nearly 6 percent of all working Americans lived in poverty last year -- a level that's remained stubbornly high.
Also surprising: the rise in the number of married couples in poverty, since they are traditionally the most resilient demographic. In 2003, 3.1 million married couples lived in poverty, with 53 percent of poor families headed by a married couple, a dramatic increase from 2001 when 2.8 million married couples were poor.
William Dickens, an economist with the Brookings Institution, agrees that the gap between rich and poor is widening, but he says, "in the last 30 years, it has taken robust economic growth for wage gains at the bottom of the income bracket. In general, this has not been a roaring recovery."
But Dickens says even in this period of weak economic recovery, workers can get by, if they are educated and flexible enough. More education translates to better pay, according to Dickens.
But as skilled American workers compete with a growing number of well educated and cheaper overseas workers, the wage gap in the U.S. will most likely continue to grow, says Kent Hughes, an economist with the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington DC. Hughes believes that the already limber American worker is going to have to become even more flexible as jobs traditionally reserved for white-collar American workers, such as computer programming, are being done more cheaply abroad.
The existing official measure of poverty has been widely criticized. Under the procedures by which the official poverty rate is calculated, only cash income is counted in determining whether a family is poor; cash welfare programs count, but benefits from noncash programs, such as food stamps, medical care, social services, education and training, and housing are not included. Taxes paid, such as Social Security payroll taxes, and tax credits, such as the Earned Income Tax Credit, are also excluded from poverty calculations. Because government spending on means-tested noncash benefits and tax credits has increased more rapidly than spending on means-tested cash benefits over the years, ignoring noncash benefits is an increasingly serious omission if we want a broad picture of the impact of government programs on poverty. http://www.irp.wisc.edu/faqs/faq3.htm
December 30, 2004: By Octavio Blanco, CNN/Money staff writer
According to the most recent Census Bureau statistics, nearly 36 million Americans lived in poverty in 2003, an increase of 1.3 million from 2002. And since 2000, 4.4 million more people in this country are living in poverty. The Census Bureau defines poverty as an individual earning $9,393 or less and $14,680 or less for a family of three.
And American families are faring worse than they have in years. Last year 7.6 million American families -- or 10 percent of all families -- lived in poverty, a big jump from 2000.
Poverty in America? One of the richest countries in the world?
Yes, poverty is a reality in America, just as it is for millions of other human beings on the planet. According to the US Census Bureau, 35.9 million people live below the poverty line in America, including 12.9 million children.
This is despite abundance of food resources. Almost 100 billion pounds of food is wasted in America each year. 700 million hungry human beings in different parts of the world would have gladly accepted this food.
Here are some statistics on the nature of poverty and the waste of food and money in America.
-In 2004, requests for emergency food assistance increased by an average of 14 percent during the year, according to a 27-city study by the United States Conference of Mayors.
-Also in this study, it was noted that on average, 20 percent of requests for emergency food assistance have gone unmet in 2004.
-According to the Bread for the World Institute 3.5 percent of U.S. households experience hunger. Some people in these households frequently skip meals or eat too little, sometimes going without food for a whole day. 9.6 million people, including 3 million children, live in these homes.
-America's Second Harvest (http://www.secondharvest.org/), the nation's largest network of food banks, reports that 23.3 million people turned to the agencies they serve in 2001, an increase of over 2 million since 1997. Forty percent were from working families.
33 million Americans continue to live in households that did not have an adequate supply of food. Nearly one-third of these households contain adults or children who went hungry at some point in 2000.
U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, March 2002, "Household Food Security in the United States, 2000"
Wasted food in America -According to America’s Second Harvest, over 41 billion pounds of food have been wasted this year.
-According to a 2004 study from the University of Arizona (UA) in Tucson, on average, American households waste 14 percent of their food purchases.
Fifteen percent of that includes products still within their expiration date but never opened. Timothy Jones, an anthropologist at the UA Bureau of Applied Research in Anthropology who led the study, estimates an average family of four currently tosses out $590 per year, just in meat, fruits, vegetables and grain products.
Nationwide, Jones says, household food waste alone adds up to $43 billion, making it a serious economic problem.
- Official surveys indicate that every year more than 350 billion pounds of edible food is available for human consumption in the United States. Of that total, nearly 100 billion pounds - including fresh vegetables, fruits, milk, and grain products - are lost to waste by retailers, restaurants, and consumers.
-“U.S.-Massive Food Waste & Hunger Side by Side” by Haider Rizvi
-According to a 1997 study by US Department of Agriculture's Economic Research Service (ERS) entitled "Estimating and Addressing America's Food Losses", about 96 billion pounds of food, or more than a quarter of the 356 billion pounds of edible food available for human consumption in the United States, was lost to human use by food retailers, consumers, and foodservice establishments in 1995.
Fresh fruits and vegetables, fluid milk, grain products, and sweeteners (mostly sugar and high-fructose corn syrup) accounted for two-thirds of the losses. 16 billion pounds of milk and 14 billion pounds of grain products are also included in this loss.
Food that could have gone to millions According to the US Department of Agriculture, up to one-fifth of America's food goes to waste each year, with an estimated 130 pounds of food per person ending up in landfills. The annual value of this lost food is estimated at around $31 billion But the real story is that roughly 49 million people could have been fed by those lost resources. (For your persona jihad against wastage, see A Citizen's Guide to Food Recovery)
(The figures below are 1998 figures)
Proportion of Americans living below the poverty level: 12.7 percent (34.5 million people) The average poverty threshold for a family of four: $16,660 in annual income The average poverty threshold for a family of three: $13,003 in annual income Poverty rate for metropolitan areas: 12.3 percent Poverty rate for those living inside central cities: 18.5 percent Poverty rate for those living in the suburbs: 8.7 percent Percentage and number of poor children: 18.9 percent (13.5 million) Children make up 39 percent of the poor and 26 percent of the total population. The poverty rate for children is higher than for any other age group. Child poverty: -for children under age 6 living in families with a female householder and no husband present: 54.8 percent -for children under age 6 in married-couple families: 10.1 percent Poverty rate for African Americans: 26.1 percent Poverty rate for Asians and Pacific Islanders: 12.5 percent Poverty rate for Hispanics of any race: 25.6 percent Poverty rate for non-Hispanic whites: 8.2 percent
Each year, the U.S. Census Bureau counts the number of "poor" persons in the U.S. In 2005, the Bureau found 37 million "poor" Americans. Presidential candidate John Edwards claims that these 37 million Americans currently "struggle with incredible poverty." Edwards asserts that America's poor, who number "one in eight of us…do not have enough money for the food, shelter, and clothing they need," and are forced to live in "terrible" circumstances.However, an examination of the living standards of the 37 million persons, whom the government defines as "poor," reveals that what Edwards calls "the plague"of American poverty might not be as "terrible" or "incredible" as candidate Edwards contends.
Robert E. Rector and Kirk A. Johnson, Ph.D. January 5, 2004 http://www.heritage.org/Research/Welfare/bg1713.cfm
While the poor are generally well nourished, some poor families do experience temporary food shortages. But even this condition is relatively rare; 89 percent of the poor report their families have "enough" food to eat, while only 2 percent say they "often" do not have enough to eat.
Robert E. Rector August 27, 2007 http://www.heritage.org/research/welfare/bg2064.cfm
i like the more than just the use of money is used in these blogs. impoverishment in american can not only be the lose of money and poverty within it's citizens, it can also be lack of food and shelter due to these issues.
This card talks about the studdies of impoverished americans. JAMES DeFRONZO 1 , 1 University of Connecticut James DeFronzo received the PhD. from Indiana University and is currently teaching sociology at the University of Connecticut. His areas of interest include white collar, organized, and governmental crime. His recent publications outside the area of criminology have been concerned with social movements, sex roles, and the teaching of sociology.
Copyright 1983 by the American Society of Criminology ABSTRACT This study examined the relationship between a measure of public assistance to poor families (adjusted for cost of living differences among SMSAs) and crime rates. The regression analyses controlled for the effects of several other economic and noneconomic factors thought to influence variation in crime rates and utilized census and other data for the S9 SMSAs for which the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics provided cost-of-living data in 1970. The results indicated that level of public assistance to poor families had an independent negative effect on the variation of several crime rates, including rates of homicide, rape, and burglary. The results suggest that a substantial reduction in the level of public assistance to the poor may contribute to significant increase in crime rates.
this card is talking about studdies of american impoverished people.
Gerontological Society of America. 1030 15th Street NW Suite 250, Washington, DC 20005. Tel: 202-842-1275; Fax: 202-842-1150; e-mail: geron@geron.org; Web site: http://www.geron.org/journals/gsapub Purpose: Older adults are less likely than any other age group to use the federal Food Stamp Program. The personal and social costs of elderly diet insufficiency include disease exacerbation, depression, and increased hospitalization. In order to improve targeting and outreach efforts, this study identifies the characteristics of eligible older Americans who are not receiving food stamps and assesses the validity of the Andersen behavioral model for predicting impoverished older adults food stamp use. Design and Methods: We conducted a secondary analysis of the 2003 American Community Survey, which is a nationally representative survey with a response rate of 96.7%. We restricted our study subsample to the 14,724 impoverished American citizens who were aged 65 years and older. We used bivariate and logistic regression analyses to compare the 2,796 food stamp recipients with the 11,928 nonrecipients. Results: One in five impoverished older American citizens had received foods stamps in the preceding year. Female respondents, renters, younger respondents, disabled individuals, and those who received Supplemental Security Income or welfare were more likely to receive food stamps. The pseudo-R-square value indicated that the Andersen Behavioral Model explained 28% of the model's variability. Implications: Improved targeting is needed to enhance older adults' participation rates. Mobile and satellite food stamp offices in lower income neighborhoods and other innovative outreach programs that collaborate with community partners could also improve access. With the vast majority of impoverished older adults not receiving food stamps, strategies such as these are extremely important to rectify this situation among the most vulnerable group of older Americans.
Maya Federman, Thesia I. Garner, Kathleen Short, W Bowman Cutter IV, John Kiely, David Levine, Duane McDough, and Marilyn McMillen
An examination of a variety of measures of material well-being shows those individuals living in poor families, in single-parent families, and in families receiving welfare to be significantly worse off than those living in nonpoor families. This article represents an effort to get closer to the answer by summarizing findings from nine national surveys that shed light on the living conditions of individuals living in poor and nonpoor families. This work represents a coordinated effort of representatives of various Federal agencies that produce and analyze data from nationally representative surveys.
by Robert E. Rector and Kirk A. Johnson, Ph.D. Backgrounder #1713
This key research from 2004 has been updated in Robert Rector’s new paper, How Poor Are America's Poor? Examining the "Plague" of Poverty in America
Each year, the U.S. Census Bureau counts the number of "poor" persons in the U.S. In 2005, the Bureau found 37 million "poor" Americans. Presidential candidate John Edwards claims that these 37 million Americans currently "struggle with incredible poverty." Edwards asserts that America's poor, who number "one in eight of us…do not have enough money for the food, shelter, and clothing they need," and are forced to live in "terrible" circumstances.However, an examination of the living standards of the 37 million persons, whom the government defines as "poor," reveals that what Edwards calls "the plague"of American poverty might not be as "terrible" or "incredible" as candidate Edwards contends.
Poverty in America has been a growing problem http://www.povertyinamerica.psu.edu/about/ Pennstate NODATE According to our estimates in 2003, almost 25% of the nation's counties had low per-capita incomes below one half the national average or less, high unemployment, low labor force participation rates, and a high dependency on government transfer payments-all measures of economic distress. These communities are located in timber, agricultural, and mineral and energy resource areas in the nation and in regions of the Deep South including the Mississippi Delta, the eastern coal belt of Appalachia, historic New Mexican and Native American communities, and along our borders. More recently, newly distressed counties are experiencing the collapse of their post-war low-wage manufacturing economies. At a smaller spatial scale, communities in persistent poverty also are present in the nation's cities, where long-term decline has left core urban areas of cities such as Washington, DC, Detroit, Michigan, and Los Angeles, California with limited job opportunities, high levels of poverty, and populations with few effective means of economic advancement.
The problem of persistent poverty is a complex one that includes communities and individuals who, through no fault of their own, find themselves unable to make ends meet in this globalizing, information-intensive world. People at risk are women, children, and people of color, single-parent families, and the elderly. Large numbers of the nation's citizens live at or below the poverty threshold, which means each month is a struggle to pay the bills and provide the basics, including food, clothing, and shelter, not to mention access to health care and simple comforts. How can the richest country in the world still have more than 12% of its total population, and al-most 20% of all children under the age of 18, unable to meet, let alone be guaranteed coverage of, basic needs? Today, as a nation, we are significantly different than we were in 1960, when more than 20% of the population was visibly poor and lacked basic goods, including food, clothing, proper shelter, clean water, heating, health care, and access to decent schools. We are a more diverse population and a more dispersed population; we are older and remain divided by race, income, and location.
The understanding of poverty is understanding america's own fualts http://www.heritage.org/research/welfare/bg2064.cfm Rector 2007 Poverty is an important and emotional issue. Last year, the Census Bureau released its annual report on poverty in the United States declaring that there were 37 million poor persons living in this country in 2005, roughly the same number as in the preceding years.[4] According to the Census report, 12.6 percent of Americans were poor in 2005; this number has varied from 11.3 percent to 15.1 percent of the population over the past 20 years.[5]
To understand poverty in America, it is important to look behind these numbers—to look at the actual living conditions of the individuals the government deems to be poor. For most Americans, the word "poverty" suggests destitution: an inability to provide a family with nutritious food, clothing, and reasonable shelter. But only a small number of the 37 million persons classified as "poor" by the Census Bureau fit that description. While real material hardship certainly does occur, it is limited in scope and severity. Most of America's "poor" live in material conditions that would be judged as comfortable or well-off just a few generations ago. Today, the expenditures per person of the lowest-income one-fifth (or quintile) of households equal those of the median American household in the early 1970s, after adjusting for inflation.[6]
The following are facts about persons defined as "poor" by the Census Bureau, taken from various government reports:
Forty-three percent of all poor households actually own their own homes. The average home owned by persons classified as poor by the Census Bureau is a three-bedroom house with one-and-a-half baths, a garage, and a porch or patio.
Eighty percent of poor households have air conditioning. By contrast, in 1970, only 36 percent of the entire U.S. population enjoyed air conditioning.
Only 6 percent of poor households are overcrowded. More than two-thirds have more than two rooms per person.
The average poor American has more living space than the average individual living in Paris, London, Vienna, Athens, and other cities throughout Europe. (These comparisons are to the average citizens in foreign countries, not to those classified as poor.)
Nearly three-quarters of poor households own a car; 31 percent own two or more cars.
Ninety-seven percent of poor households have a color television; over half own two or more color televisions.
Seventy-eight percent have a VCR or DVD player; 62 percent have cable or satellite TV reception.
Eighty-nine percent own microwave ovens, more than half have a stereo, and more than a third have an automatic dishwasher. As a group, America's poor are far from being chronically undernourished. The average consumption of protein, vitamins, and minerals is virtually the same for poor and middle-class children and, in most cases, is well above recommended norms. Poor children actually consume more meat than do higher-income children and have average protein intakes 100 percent above recommended levels. Most poor children today are, in fact, supernourished and grow up to be, on average, one inch taller and 10 pounds heavier than the GIs who stormed the beaches of Normandy in World War II.
While the poor are generally well nourished, some poor families do experience temporary food shortages. But even this condition is relatively rare; 89 percent of the poor report their families have "enough" food to eat, while only 2 percent say they "often" do not have enough to eat.
Overall, the typical American defined as poor by the government has a car, air conditioning, a refrigerator, a stove, a clothes washer and dryer, and a microwave. He has two color televisions, cable or satellite TV reception, a VCR or DVD player, and a stereo. He is able to obtain medical care. His home is in good repair and is not overcrowded. By his own report, his family is not hungry and he had sufficient funds in the past year to meet his family's essential needs. While this individual's life is not opulent, it is equally far from the popular images of dire poverty conveyed by the press, liberal activists, and politicians.
Of course, the living conditions of the average poor American should not be taken as representing all the poor. There is actually a wide range in living conditions among the poor. For example, a third of poor households have both cellular and landline telephones. A third also have telephone answering machines. At the other extreme, however, approximately one-tenth have no phone at all. Similarly, while the majority of poor households do not experience significant material problems, roughly 30 percent do experience at least one problem such as overcrowding, temporary hunger, or difficulty getting medical care.
The remaining poverty in the U.S. can be reduced further, particularly poverty among children. There are two main reasons that American children are poor: Their parents don't work much, and fathers are absent from the home.
In good economic times or bad, the typical poor family with children is supported by only 800 hours of work during a year: That amounts to 16 hours of work per week. If work in each family were raised to 2,000 hours per year—the equivalent of one adult working 40 hours per week throughout the year— nearly 75 percent of poor children would be lifted out of official poverty.
Poverty in America Rector and Johnson in 05 http://www.heritage.org/Research/Welfare/bg1713.cfm
The following are facts about persons defined as "poor" by the Census Bureau, taken from various government reports:
Forty-six percent of all poor households actually own their own homes. The average home owned by persons classified as poor by the Census Bureau is a three-bedroom house with one-and-a-half baths, a garage, and a porch or patio. Seventy-six percent of poor households have air conditioning. By contrast, 30 years ago, only 36 percent of the entire U.S. population enjoyed air conditioning. Only 6 percent of poor households are overcrowded. More than two-thirds have more than two rooms per person. The average poor American has more living space than the average individual living in Paris, London, Vienna, Athens, and other cities throughout Europe. (These comparisons are to the average citizens in foreign countries, not to those classified as poor.) Nearly three-quarters of poor households own a car; 30 percent own two or more cars. Ninety-seven percent of poor households have a color television; over half own two or more color televisions. Seventy-eight percent have a VCR or DVD player; 62 percent have cable or satellite TV reception. Seventy-three percent own microwave ovens, more than half have a stereo, and a third have an automatic dishwasher.
Poverty in America Rector and Johnson in 05 http://www.heritage.org/Research/Welfare/bg1713.cfm
Overall, the typical American defined as poor by the government has a car, air conditioning, a refrigerator, a stove, a clothes washer and dryer, and a microwave. He has two color televisions, cable or satellite TV reception, a VCR or DVD player, and a stereo. He is able to obtain medical care. His home is in good repair and is not overcrowded. By his own report, his family is not hungry and he had sufficient funds in the past year to meet his family's essential needs. While this individual's life is not opulent, it is equally far from the popular images of dire poverty conveyed by the press, liberal activists, and politicians.
Of course, the living conditions of the average poor American should not be taken as representing all the poor. There is actually a wide range in living conditions among the poor. For example, over a quarter of poor households have cell phones and telephone answering machines, but, at the other extreme, approximately one-tenth have no phone at all. While the majority of poor households do not experience significant material problems, roughly a third do experience at least one problem such as overcrowding, temporary hunger, or difficulty getting medical care.
How Poor Are America's Poor? Examining the "Plague" of Poverty in America by Robert E. Rector
Poverty is an important and emotional issue. Last year, the Census Bureau released its annual report on poverty in the United States declaring that there were 37 million poor persons living in this country in 2005, roughly the same number as in the preceding years.[4] According to the Census report, 12.6 percent of Americans were poor in 2005; this number has varied from 11.3 percent to 15.1 percent of the population over the past 20 years.[5]
Dr. Amy K. Glasmeier The annual release of federal statistics on poverty rates and the number of Americans without medical insurance occurs like clock work. Today’s release of the 2007 statistics highlights two short term developments: the poverty rate is essentially unchanged and the number of individuals without health care has modestly declined. At this particular moment, timing is everything. These statistics do not capture the last 12 months of economic turmoil felt by millions of Americans. The decline in the housing market and the rise in the price of oil are impacting America’s low wealth families in powerful ways. Statistics from the Center for American Progress, portend a dark near term future for America’s families:
Foreclosures are up: 1.2 million Number of foreclosure filings in 2006. This number is up 42 percent from 2005.
The percentage change in foreclosures is up: 700 Percentage increase in foreclosures from 2005 to 2006.
Sub prime loans are a large percentage of outstanding mortgages: 13: Percentage of outstanding mortgages accounted for by subprime loans
Child Poverty in the United States: The Need for a Constitutional Amendment and a Cultural Sea Change
ReplyDeleteBy Robert C. Fellmeth
Johnny S. was eleven years old and his homeless mother had his five-year-old sister to worry about. So she left him on a street corner in Ocean Beach, a neighborhood in San Diego. Johnny looked for his mom for four days before he was picked up by social workers. He scrounged for odd jobs and conned a restaurant manager into letting him wash dishes for three hours a night, earning just over $135. When the social workers found him, he had every penny in his pockets. He had confined himself to just one meal at the restaurant because “Mom needs [the money].” Johnny is a bright-eyed boy with above average intelligence. However, he has a slight stoop due to a correctable bone malformation, and his teeth have painful cavities. He has not been to school for two years. He presents a microcosm of child poverty in America: a child with strong potential and admirable character but with health problems, an educational deficit, and likely relegation to group home foster care or to the streets. Regrettably, Johnny is not unique. He lives in our wealthiest state and, until gathered up, was sleeping under bushes by the beach, in the shadows of $5 million homes.
Understanding Poverty in America
by Robert E. Rector and Kirk A. Johnson, Ph.D.
For most Americans, the word "poverty" suggests destitution: an inability to provide a family with nutritious food, clothing, and reasonable shelter. But only a small number of the 35 million persons classified as "poor" by the Census Bureau fit that description. While real material hardship certainly does occur, it is limited in scope and severity. Most of America's "poor" live in material conditions that would be judged as comfortable or well-off just a few generations ago. Today, the expenditures per person of the lowest-income one-fifth (or quintile) of households equal those of the median American household in the early 1970s, after adjusting for inflation.1
The following are facts about persons defined as "poor" by the Census Bureau, taken from various government reports:
Forty-six percent of all poor households actually own their own homes. The average home owned by persons classified as poor by the Census Bureau is a three-bedroom house with one-and-a-half baths, a garage, and a porch or patio.
Seventy-six percent of poor households have air conditioning. By contrast, 30 years ago, only 36 percent of the entire U.S. population enjoyed air conditioning.
Only 6 percent of poor households are overcrowded. More than two-thirds have more than two rooms per person.
The average poor American has more living space than the average individual living in Paris, London, Vienna, Athens, and other cities throughout Europe. (These comparisons are to the average citizens in foreign countries, not to those classified as poor.)
Nearly three-quarters of poor households own a car; 30 percent own two or more cars.
Ninety-seven percent of poor households have a color television; over half own two or more color televisions.
Seventy-eight percent have a VCR or DVD player; 62 percent have cable or satellite TV reception.
Seventy-three percent own microwave ovens, more than half have a stereo, and a third have an automatic dishwasher.
As a group, America's poor are far from being chronically undernourished. The average consumption of protein, vitamins, and minerals is virtually the same for poor and middle-class children and, in most cases, is well above recommended norms. Poor children actually consume more meat than do higher-income children and have average protein intakes 100 percent above recommended levels. Most poor children today are, in fact, supernourished and grow up to be, on average, one inch taller and 10 pounds heavier that the GIs who stormed the beaches of Normandy in World War II.
To understand the relationship between poverty and living conditions, a multifaceted understanding of what it means to be poor is required. In one sense, the answer to the question "What does it mean to be poor?" is straightforward--having cash income below the official poverty line for a given family size. In a broader sense, the living conditions of the poor are difficult to measure, both because annual cash income is only one factor related to living conditions, and because the poor are quite heterogeneous.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.questia.com/googleScholar.qst;jsessionid=JSLGJH1fnzrV99vFGzLBJH9nQ9B122G21sGY3v4QnxT5JFl30h4H!2004912927!1507451015?docId=5000375107
Each year, the U.S. Census Bureau counts the number of "poor" persons in the U.S. In 2005, the Bureau found 37 million "poor" Americans. Presidential candidate John Edwards claims that these 37 million Americans currently "struggle with incredible poverty." Edwards asserts that America's poor, who number "one in eight of us…do not have enough money for the food, shelter, and clothing they need," and are forced to live in "terrible" circumstances.However, an examination of the living standards of the 37 million persons, whom the government defines as "poor," reveals that what Edwards calls "the plague"of American poverty might not be as "terrible" or "incredible" as candidate Edwards contends.
http://brittonsbitsforpolicy.blogspot.com/2009/03/impoverished-americans.html
Robert E. Rector and Kirk A. Johnson, Ph.D. January 5, 2004
ReplyDeleteOverall, the typical American defined as poor by the government has a car, air conditioning, a refrigerator, a stove, a clothes washer and dryer, and a microwave. He has two color televisions, cable or satellite TV reception, a VCR or DVD player, and a stereo. He is able to obtain medical care. His home is in good repair and is not overcrowded. By his own report, his family is not hungry and he had sufficient funds in the past year to meet his family's essential needs. While this individual's life is not opulent, it is equally far from the popular images of dire poverty conveyed by the press, liberal activists, and politicians.
("what does it mean to be poor in amaerica?" Maya Federman, 1996)
ReplyDeleteAn examination of a variety of measures of material well-being shows those individuals living in poor families, in single-parent families, and in families receiving welfare to be significantly worse off than those living in nonpoor families. This article represents an effort to get closer to the answer by summarizing findings from nine national surveys that shed light on the living conditions of individuals living in poor and nonpoor families. This work represents a coordinated effort of representatives of various Federal agencies that produce and analyze data from nationally representative surveys.
BOOYA!! i just turned my education aff critical!!
(http://education.byu.edu/arts/documents/theimpoverishmentofamericanculturebydanagioia.doc, "The Impoverishment of American Culture," DANA GIOIA
2007)
The same was true of literature. I first encountered Robert Frost, John Steinbeck, Lillian Hellman and James Baldwin on general-interest TV shows. All of these people were famous to the average American -- because the culture considered them important. Today no working-class kid would encounter that range of arts and ideas in the popular culture. Almost everything in our national culture, even the news, has been reduced to entertainment, or altogether eliminated.
The loss of recognition for artists, thinkers and scientists has impoverished our culture in innumerable ways, but let me mention one. When virtually all of a culture's celebrated figures are in sports or entertainment, how few possible role models we offer the young. There are so many other ways to lead a successful and meaningful life that are not denominated by money or fame. Adult life begins in a child's imagination, and we've relinquished that imagination to the marketplace.
mwahahahahaha...this article also talks about how the education system is the only way to solve...thats right ashley is amazing...
ok, so for this topic to be really fun, we cant just look at "social services", we have to look at "persons in poverty" too. Having an income below the poverty level is ok, but that should not confine the topic. we need to look at poverty not only in economic implications, but also socially and spiritually (DO I HEAR BUDDHISM?).
What does it mean to be poor in America?
ReplyDeleteMaya Federman, Thesia I. Garner, Kathleen Short,
W Bowman Cutter IV, John Kiely, David Levine,
Duane McDough, and Marilyn McMillen
http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/1996/05/art1abs.htm
An examination of a variety of measures of material well-being shows those individuals living in poor families, in single-parent families, and in families receiving welfare to be significantly worse off than those living in nonpoor families. This article represents an effort to get closer to the answer by summarizing findings from nine national surveys that shed light on the living conditions of individuals living in poor and nonpoor families. This work represents a coordinated effort of representatives of various Federal agencies that produce and analyze data from nationally representative surveys.
The changing face of poverty
Millions of Americans live in poverty, more families are suffering and hunger is seen growing.
December 30, 2004: 1:14 PM EST
By Octavio Blanco, CNN/Money staff writer
http://money.cnn.com/2004/12/22/news/economy/poverty_overview/index.htm
NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Poverty and hunger are problems that many Americans relegate to the Third World. But the steady growth of poverty has left millions of American families afraid they won't have enough money to put food on the table.
According to the most recent Census Bureau statistics, nearly 36 million Americans lived in poverty in 2003, an increase of 1.3 million from 2002. And since 2000, 4.4 million more people in this country are living in poverty. The Census Bureau defines poverty as an individual earning $9,393 or less and $14,680 or less for a family of three.
And American families are faring worse than they have in years. Last year 7.6 million American families -- or 10 percent of all families -- lived in poverty, a big jump from 2000.
The rich get richer ...
But these figures don't complete the story.
Jared Bernstein, a labor economist with the Economic Policy Institute, a liberal think tank, said the growth in the number of poor should give us pause, but even more troubling is the growing disparity in America between who is rich and who is poor.
In the last few decades, pay for wealthier Americans has risen dramatically -- fueled by growth in salaries, bonuses, stock options and other compensation, Bernstein said. But wages for millions of lower-wage workers have dwindled. Many have lost their jobs altogether.
Poverty in America
Working without healthcare
Hard at work, but can't buy food
This "wedge" has prevented the benefits of economic growth from being spread equally. In addition, the current economic recovery is the weakest since World War II in terms of job growth.
Traditionally, the United States has used economic growth and job creation to reduce poverty, but in today's world that's only meaningful to the extent that wage inequality is reduced, Bernstein said.
"The U.S. economy has experienced three years of recovery, yet poverty has continued to go up," he said.
In fact, the latest numbers show that nearly 6 percent of all working Americans lived in poverty last year -- a level that's remained stubbornly high.
Also surprising: the rise in the number of married couples in poverty, since they are traditionally the most resilient demographic. In 2003, 3.1 million married couples lived in poverty, with 53 percent of poor families headed by a married couple, a dramatic increase from 2001 when 2.8 million married couples were poor.
William Dickens, an economist with the Brookings Institution, agrees that the gap between rich and poor is widening, but he says, "in the last 30 years, it has taken robust economic growth for wage gains at the bottom of the income bracket. In general, this has not been a roaring recovery."
But Dickens says even in this period of weak economic recovery, workers can get by, if they are educated and flexible enough. More education translates to better pay, according to Dickens.
But as skilled American workers compete with a growing number of well educated and cheaper overseas workers, the wage gap in the U.S. will most likely continue to grow, says Kent Hughes, an economist with the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington DC. Hughes believes that the already limber American worker is going to have to become even more flexible as jobs traditionally reserved for white-collar American workers, such as computer programming, are being done more cheaply abroad.
December 30, 2004:
ReplyDeleteBy Octavio Blanco, CNN/Money staff writer
http://money.cnn.com/2004/12/22/news/economy/poverty_overview/index.htm
NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Poverty and hunger are problems that many Americans relegate to the Third World. But the steady growth of poverty has left millions of American families afraid they won't have enough money to put food on the table.
According to the most recent Census Bureau statistics, nearly 36 million Americans lived in poverty in 2003, an increase of 1.3 million from 2002. And since 2000, 4.4 million more people in this country are living in poverty. The Census Bureau defines poverty as an individual earning $9,393 or less and $14,680 or less for a family of three.
And American families are faring worse than they have in years. Last year 7.6 million American families -- or 10 percent of all families -- lived in poverty, a big jump from 2000.
The rich get richer ...
But these figures don't complete the story.
Jared Bernstein, a labor economist with the Economic Policy Institute, a liberal think tank, said the growth in the number of poor should give us pause, but even more troubling is the growing disparity in America between who is rich and who is poor.
In the last few decades, pay for wealthier Americans has risen dramatically -- fueled by growth in salaries, bonuses, stock options and other compensation, Bernstein said. But wages for millions of lower-wage workers have dwindled. Many have lost their jobs altogether.
Poverty in America
Working without healthcare
Hard at work, but can't buy food
This "wedge" has prevented the benefits of economic growth from being spread equally. In addition, the current economic recovery is the weakest since World War II in terms of job growth.
Traditionally, the United States has used economic growth and job creation to reduce poverty, but in today's world that's only meaningful to the extent that wage inequality is reduced, Bernstein said.
"The U.S. economy has experienced three years of recovery, yet poverty has continued to go up," he said.
In fact, the latest numbers show that nearly 6 percent of all working Americans lived in poverty last year -- a level that's remained stubbornly high.
Also surprising: the rise in the number of married couples in poverty, since they are traditionally the most resilient demographic. In 2003, 3.1 million married couples lived in poverty, with 53 percent of poor families headed by a married couple, a dramatic increase from 2001 when 2.8 million married couples were poor.
William Dickens, an economist with the Brookings Institution, agrees that the gap between rich and poor is widening, but he says, "in the last 30 years, it has taken robust economic growth for wage gains at the bottom of the income bracket. In general, this has not been a roaring recovery."
But Dickens says even in this period of weak economic recovery, workers can get by, if they are educated and flexible enough. More education translates to better pay, according to Dickens.
But as skilled American workers compete with a growing number of well educated and cheaper overseas workers, the wage gap in the U.S. will most likely continue to grow, says Kent Hughes, an economist with the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington DC. Hughes believes that the already limber American worker is going to have to become even more flexible as jobs traditionally reserved for white-collar American workers, such as computer programming, are being done more cheaply abroad.
The existing official measure of poverty has been widely criticized. Under the procedures by which the official poverty rate is calculated, only cash income is counted in determining whether a family is poor; cash welfare programs count, but benefits from noncash programs, such as food stamps, medical care, social services, education and training, and housing are not included. Taxes paid, such as Social Security payroll taxes, and tax credits, such as the Earned Income Tax Credit, are also excluded from poverty calculations. Because government spending on means-tested noncash benefits and tax credits has increased more rapidly than spending on means-tested cash benefits over the years, ignoring noncash benefits is an increasingly serious omission if we want a broad picture of the impact of government programs on poverty.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.irp.wisc.edu/faqs/faq3.htm
December 30, 2004:
By Octavio Blanco, CNN/Money staff writer
According to the most recent Census Bureau statistics, nearly 36 million Americans lived in poverty in 2003, an increase of 1.3 million from 2002. And since 2000, 4.4 million more people in this country are living in poverty. The Census Bureau defines poverty as an individual earning $9,393 or less and $14,680 or less for a family of three.
And American families are faring worse than they have in years. Last year 7.6 million American families -- or 10 percent of all families -- lived in poverty, a big jump from 2000.
http://money.cnn.com/2004/12/22/news/economy/poverty_overview/index.htm
Poverty in America? One of the richest countries in the world?
ReplyDeleteYes, poverty is a reality in America, just as it is for millions of other human beings on the planet. According to the US Census Bureau, 35.9 million people live below the poverty line in America, including 12.9 million children.
This is despite abundance of food resources. Almost 100 billion pounds of food is wasted in America each year. 700 million hungry human beings in different parts of the world would have gladly accepted this food.
Here are some statistics on the nature of poverty and the waste of food and money in America.
-In 2004, requests for emergency food assistance increased by an average of 14 percent during the year, according to a 27-city study by the United States Conference of Mayors.
-Also in this study, it was noted that on average, 20 percent of requests for emergency food assistance have gone unmet in 2004.
-According to the Bread for the World Institute 3.5 percent of U.S. households experience hunger. Some people in these households frequently skip meals or eat too little, sometimes going without food for a whole day. 9.6 million people, including 3 million children, live in these homes.
-America's Second Harvest (http://www.secondharvest.org/), the nation's largest network of food banks, reports that 23.3 million people turned to the agencies they serve in 2001, an increase of over 2 million since 1997. Forty percent were from working families.
33 million Americans continue to live in households that did not have an adequate supply of food. Nearly one-third of these households contain adults or children who went hungry at some point in 2000.
U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, March 2002, "Household Food Security in the United States, 2000"
Wasted food in America
-According to America’s Second Harvest, over 41 billion pounds of food have been wasted this year.
-According to a 2004 study from the University of Arizona (UA) in Tucson, on average, American households waste 14 percent of their food purchases.
Fifteen percent of that includes products still within their expiration date but never opened. Timothy Jones, an anthropologist at the UA Bureau of Applied Research in Anthropology who led the study, estimates an average family of four currently tosses out $590 per year, just in meat, fruits, vegetables and grain products.
Nationwide, Jones says, household food waste alone adds up to $43 billion, making it a serious economic problem.
- Official surveys indicate that every year more than 350 billion pounds of edible food is available for human consumption in the United States. Of that total, nearly 100 billion pounds - including fresh vegetables, fruits, milk, and grain products - are lost to waste by retailers, restaurants, and consumers.
-“U.S.-Massive Food Waste & Hunger Side by Side” by Haider Rizvi
-According to a 1997 study by US Department of Agriculture's Economic Research Service (ERS) entitled "Estimating and Addressing America's Food Losses", about 96 billion pounds of food, or more than a quarter of the 356 billion pounds of edible food available for human consumption in the United States, was lost to human use by food retailers, consumers, and foodservice establishments in 1995.
Fresh fruits and vegetables, fluid milk, grain products, and sweeteners (mostly sugar and high-fructose corn syrup) accounted for two-thirds of the losses. 16 billion pounds of milk and 14 billion pounds of grain products are also included in this loss.
Food that could have gone to millions
According to the US Department of Agriculture, up to one-fifth of America's food goes to waste each year, with an estimated 130 pounds of food per person ending up in landfills. The annual value of this lost food is estimated at around $31 billion But the real story is that roughly 49 million people could have been fed by those lost resources. (For your persona jihad against wastage, see A Citizen's Guide to Food Recovery)
(The figures below are 1998 figures)
Proportion of Americans living below the poverty level: 12.7 percent (34.5 million people)
The average poverty threshold for a family of four: $16,660 in annual income
The average poverty threshold for a family of three: $13,003 in annual income
Poverty rate for metropolitan areas: 12.3 percent
Poverty rate for those living inside central cities: 18.5 percent
Poverty rate for those living in the suburbs: 8.7 percent
Percentage and number of poor children: 18.9 percent (13.5 million)
Children make up 39 percent of the poor and 26 percent of the total population.
The poverty rate for children is higher than for any other age group.
Child poverty:
-for children under age 6 living in families with a female householder and no husband present: 54.8 percent
-for children under age 6 in married-couple families: 10.1 percent
Poverty rate for African Americans: 26.1 percent
Poverty rate for Asians and Pacific Islanders: 12.5 percent
Poverty rate for Hispanics of any race: 25.6 percent
Poverty rate for non-Hispanic whites: 8.2 percent
http://www.soundvision.com/Info/poor/statistics.asp
Each year, the U.S. Census Bureau counts the number of "poor" persons in the U.S. In 2005, the Bureau found 37 million "poor" Americans. Presidential candidate John Edwards claims that these 37 million Americans currently "struggle with incredible poverty." Edwards asserts that America's poor, who number "one in eight of us…do not have enough money for the food, shelter, and clothing they need," and are forced to live in "terrible" circumstances.However, an examination of the living standards of the 37 million persons, whom the government defines as "poor," reveals that what Edwards calls "the plague"of American poverty might not be as "terrible" or "incredible" as candidate Edwards contends.
ReplyDeleteRobert E. Rector and Kirk A. Johnson, Ph.D.
January 5, 2004
http://www.heritage.org/Research/Welfare/bg1713.cfm
While the poor are generally well nourished, some poor families do experience temporary food shortages. But even this condition is relatively rare; 89 percent of the poor report their families have "enough" food to eat, while only 2 percent say they "often" do not have enough to eat.
Robert E. Rector
August 27, 2007
http://www.heritage.org/research/welfare/bg2064.cfm
i like the more than just the use of money is used in these blogs. impoverishment in american can not only be the lose of money and poverty within it's citizens, it can also be lack of food and shelter due to these issues.
ReplyDeleteThis card talks about the studdies of impoverished americans.
ReplyDeleteJAMES DeFRONZO 1 ,
1 University of Connecticut
James DeFronzo received the PhD. from Indiana University and is currently teaching sociology at the University of Connecticut. His areas of interest include white collar, organized, and governmental crime. His recent publications outside the area of criminology have been concerned with social movements, sex roles, and the teaching of sociology.
Copyright 1983 by the American Society of Criminology
ABSTRACT
This study examined the relationship between a measure of public assistance to poor families (adjusted for cost of living differences among SMSAs) and crime rates. The regression analyses controlled for the effects of several other economic and noneconomic factors thought to influence variation in crime rates and utilized census and other data for the S9 SMSAs for which the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics provided cost-of-living data in 1970. The results indicated that level of public assistance to poor families had an independent negative effect on the variation of several crime rates, including rates of homicide, rape, and burglary. The results suggest that a substantial reduction in the level of public assistance to the poor may contribute to significant increase in crime rates.
this card is talking about studdies of american impoverished people.
Gerontological Society of America. 1030 15th Street NW Suite 250, Washington, DC 20005. Tel: 202-842-1275; Fax: 202-842-1150; e-mail: geron@geron.org; Web site: http://www.geron.org/journals/gsapub
Purpose: Older adults are less likely than any other age group to use the federal Food Stamp Program. The personal and social costs of elderly diet insufficiency include disease exacerbation, depression, and increased hospitalization. In order to improve targeting and outreach efforts, this study identifies the characteristics of eligible older Americans who are not receiving food stamps and assesses the validity of the Andersen behavioral model for predicting impoverished older adults food stamp use. Design and Methods: We conducted a secondary analysis of the 2003 American Community Survey, which is a nationally representative survey with a response rate of 96.7%. We restricted our study subsample to the 14,724 impoverished American citizens who were aged 65 years and older. We used bivariate and logistic regression analyses to compare the 2,796 food stamp recipients with the 11,928 nonrecipients. Results: One in five impoverished older American citizens had received foods stamps in the preceding year. Female respondents, renters, younger respondents, disabled individuals, and those who received Supplemental Security Income or welfare were more likely to receive food stamps. The pseudo-R-square value indicated that the Andersen Behavioral Model explained 28% of the model's variability. Implications: Improved targeting is needed to enhance older adults' participation rates. Mobile and satellite food stamp offices in lower income neighborhoods and other innovative outreach programs that collaborate with community partners could also improve access. With the vast majority of impoverished older adults not receiving food stamps, strategies such as these are extremely important to rectify this situation among the most vulnerable group of older Americans.
What does it mean to be poor in America?
ReplyDeleteMaya Federman, Thesia I. Garner, Kathleen Short,
W Bowman Cutter IV, John Kiely, David Levine,
Duane McDough, and Marilyn McMillen
An examination of a variety of measures of material well-being shows those individuals living in poor families, in single-parent families, and in families receiving welfare to be significantly worse off than those living in nonpoor families. This article represents an effort to get closer to the answer by summarizing findings from nine national surveys that shed light on the living conditions of individuals living in poor and nonpoor families. This work represents a coordinated effort of representatives of various Federal agencies that produce and analyze data from nationally representative surveys.
http://www.ask.com/bar?q=what+does+it+mean+to+be+poor+in+america&page=1&qsrc=19&ab=0&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bls.gov%2Fopub%2Fmlr%2F1996%2F05%2Fart1abs.htm
Understanding Poverty in America
by Robert E. Rector and Kirk A. Johnson, Ph.D.
Backgrounder #1713
This key research from 2004 has been updated in Robert Rector’s new paper, How Poor Are America's Poor? Examining the "Plague" of Poverty in America
Each year, the U.S. Census Bureau counts the number of "poor" persons in the U.S. In 2005, the Bureau found 37 million "poor" Americans. Presidential candidate John Edwards claims that these 37 million Americans currently "struggle with incredible poverty." Edwards asserts that America's poor, who number "one in eight of us…do not have enough money for the food, shelter, and clothing they need," and are forced to live in "terrible" circumstances.However, an examination of the living standards of the 37 million persons, whom the government defines as "poor," reveals that what Edwards calls "the plague"of American poverty might not be as "terrible" or "incredible" as candidate Edwards contends.
http://www.ask.com/bar?q=what+is+Poverty+in+America&page=1&qsrc=2417&ab=0&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.heritage.org%2FResearch%2FWelfare%2Fbg1713.cfm
Poverty in America has been a growing problem
ReplyDeletehttp://www.povertyinamerica.psu.edu/about/ Pennstate NODATE
According to our estimates in 2003, almost 25% of the nation's counties had low per-capita incomes below one half the national average or less, high unemployment, low labor force participation rates, and a high dependency on government transfer payments-all measures of economic distress. These communities are located in timber, agricultural, and mineral and energy resource areas in the nation and in regions of the Deep South including the Mississippi Delta, the eastern coal belt of Appalachia, historic New Mexican and Native American communities, and along our borders. More recently, newly distressed counties are experiencing the collapse of their post-war low-wage manufacturing economies. At a smaller spatial scale, communities in persistent poverty also are present in the nation's cities, where long-term decline has left core urban areas of cities such as Washington, DC, Detroit, Michigan, and Los Angeles, California with limited job opportunities, high levels of poverty, and populations with few effective means of economic advancement.
The problem of persistent poverty is a complex one that includes communities and individuals who, through no fault of their own, find themselves unable to make ends meet in this globalizing, information-intensive world. People at risk are women, children, and people of color, single-parent families, and the elderly. Large numbers of the nation's citizens live at or below the poverty threshold, which means each month is a struggle to pay the bills and provide the basics, including food, clothing, and shelter, not to mention access to health care and simple comforts. How can the richest country in the world still have more than 12% of its total population, and al-most 20% of all children under the age of 18, unable to meet, let alone be guaranteed coverage of, basic needs? Today, as a nation, we are significantly different than we were in 1960, when more than 20% of the population was visibly poor and lacked basic goods, including food, clothing, proper shelter, clean water, heating, health care, and access to decent schools. We are a more diverse population and a more dispersed population; we are older and remain divided by race, income, and location.
The understanding of poverty is understanding america's own fualts
ReplyDeletehttp://www.heritage.org/research/welfare/bg2064.cfm Rector 2007
Poverty is an important and emotional issue. Last year, the Census Bureau released its annual report on poverty in the United States declaring that there were 37 million poor persons living in this country in 2005, roughly the same number as in the preceding years.[4] According to the Census report, 12.6 percent of Americans were poor in 2005; this number has varied from 11.3 percent to 15.1 percent of the population over the past 20 years.[5]
To understand poverty in America, it is important to look behind these numbers—to look at the actual living conditions of the individuals the government deems to be poor. For most Americans, the word "poverty" suggests destitution: an inability to provide a family with nutritious food, clothing, and reasonable shelter. But only a small number of the 37 million persons classified as "poor" by the Census Bureau fit that description. While real material hardship certainly does occur, it is limited in scope and severity. Most of America's "poor" live in material conditions that would be judged as comfortable or well-off just a few generations ago. Today, the expenditures per person of the lowest-income one-fifth (or quintile) of households equal those of the median American household in the early 1970s, after adjusting for inflation.[6]
The following are facts about persons defined as "poor" by the Census Bureau, taken from various government reports:
Forty-three percent of all poor households actually own their own homes. The average home owned by persons classified as poor by the Census Bureau is a three-bedroom house with one-and-a-half baths, a garage, and a porch or patio.
Eighty percent of poor households have air conditioning. By contrast, in 1970, only 36 percent of the entire U.S. population enjoyed air conditioning.
Only 6 percent of poor households are overcrowded. More than two-thirds have more than two rooms per person.
The average poor American has more living space than the average individual living in Paris, London, Vienna, Athens, and other cities throughout Europe. (These comparisons are to the average citizens in foreign countries, not to those classified as poor.)
Nearly three-quarters of poor households own a car; 31 percent own two or more cars.
Ninety-seven percent of poor households have a color television; over half own two or more color televisions.
Seventy-eight percent have a VCR or DVD player; 62 percent have cable or satellite TV reception.
Eighty-nine percent own microwave ovens, more than half have a stereo, and more than a third have an automatic dishwasher.
As a group, America's poor are far from being chronically undernourished. The average consumption of protein, vitamins, and minerals is virtually the same for poor and middle-class children and, in most cases, is well above recommended norms. Poor children actually consume more meat than do higher-income children and have average protein intakes 100 percent above recommended levels. Most poor children today are, in fact, supernourished and grow up to be, on average, one inch taller and 10 pounds heavier than the GIs who stormed the beaches of Normandy in World War II.
While the poor are generally well nourished, some poor families do experience temporary food shortages. But even this condition is relatively rare; 89 percent of the poor report their families have "enough" food to eat, while only 2 percent say they "often" do not have enough to eat.
Overall, the typical American defined as poor by the government has a car, air conditioning, a refrigerator, a stove, a clothes washer and dryer, and a microwave. He has two color televisions, cable or satellite TV reception, a VCR or DVD player, and a stereo. He is able to obtain medical care. His home is in good repair and is not overcrowded. By his own report, his family is not hungry and he had sufficient funds in the past year to meet his family's essential needs. While this individual's life is not opulent, it is equally far from the popular images of dire poverty conveyed by the press, liberal activists, and politicians.
Of course, the living conditions of the average poor American should not be taken as representing all the poor. There is actually a wide range in living conditions among the poor. For example, a third of poor households have both cellular and landline telephones. A third also have telephone answering machines. At the other extreme, however, approximately one-tenth have no phone at all. Similarly, while the majority of poor households do not experience significant material problems, roughly 30 percent do experience at least one problem such as overcrowding, temporary hunger, or difficulty getting medical care.
The remaining poverty in the U.S. can be reduced further, particularly poverty among children. There are two main reasons that American children are poor: Their parents don't work much, and fathers are absent from the home.
In good economic times or bad, the typical poor family with children is supported by only 800 hours of work during a year: That amounts to 16 hours of work per week. If work in each family were raised to 2,000 hours per year—the equivalent of one adult working 40 hours per week throughout the year— nearly 75 percent of poor children would be lifted out of official poverty.
Poverty in America
ReplyDeleteRector and Johnson in 05
http://www.heritage.org/Research/Welfare/bg1713.cfm
The following are facts about persons defined as "poor" by the Census Bureau, taken from various government reports:
Forty-six percent of all poor households actually own their own homes. The average home owned by persons classified as poor by the Census Bureau is a three-bedroom house with one-and-a-half baths, a garage, and a porch or patio.
Seventy-six percent of poor households have air conditioning. By contrast, 30 years ago, only 36 percent of the entire U.S. population enjoyed air conditioning.
Only 6 percent of poor households are overcrowded. More than two-thirds have more than two rooms per person.
The average poor American has more living space than the average individual living in Paris, London, Vienna, Athens, and other cities throughout Europe. (These comparisons are to the average citizens in foreign countries, not to those classified as poor.)
Nearly three-quarters of poor households own a car; 30 percent own two or more cars.
Ninety-seven percent of poor households have a color television; over half own two or more color televisions.
Seventy-eight percent have a VCR or DVD player; 62 percent have cable or satellite TV reception.
Seventy-three percent own microwave ovens, more than half have a stereo, and a third have an automatic dishwasher.
Poverty in America
Rector and Johnson in 05
http://www.heritage.org/Research/Welfare/bg1713.cfm
Overall, the typical American defined as poor by the government has a car, air conditioning, a refrigerator, a stove, a clothes washer and dryer, and a microwave. He has two color televisions, cable or satellite TV reception, a VCR or DVD player, and a stereo. He is able to obtain medical care. His home is in good repair and is not overcrowded. By his own report, his family is not hungry and he had sufficient funds in the past year to meet his family's essential needs. While this individual's life is not opulent, it is equally far from the popular images of dire poverty conveyed by the press, liberal activists, and politicians.
Of course, the living conditions of the average poor American should not be taken as representing all the poor. There is actually a wide range in living conditions among the poor. For example, over a quarter of poor households have cell phones and telephone answering machines, but, at the other extreme, approximately one-tenth have no phone at all. While the majority of poor households do not experience significant material problems, roughly a third do experience at least one problem such as overcrowding, temporary hunger, or difficulty getting medical care.
How Poor Are America's Poor? Examining the "Plague" of Poverty in America
ReplyDeleteby Robert E. Rector
Poverty is an important and emotional issue. Last year, the Census Bureau released its annual report on poverty in the United States declaring that there were 37 million poor persons living in this country in 2005, roughly the same number as in the preceding years.[4] According to the Census report, 12.6 percent of Americans were poor in 2005; this number has varied from 11.3 percent to 15.1 percent of the population over the past 20 years.[5]
Dr. Amy K. Glasmeier
The annual release of federal statistics on poverty rates and the number of Americans without medical insurance occurs like clock work. Today’s release of the 2007 statistics highlights two short term developments: the poverty rate is essentially unchanged and the number of individuals without health care has modestly declined. At this particular moment, timing is everything. These statistics do not capture the last 12 months of economic turmoil felt by millions of Americans. The decline in the housing market and the rise in the price of oil are impacting America’s low wealth families in powerful ways. Statistics from the Center for American Progress, portend a dark near term future for America’s families:
Foreclosures are up: 1.2 million Number of foreclosure filings in 2006. This number is up 42 percent from 2005.
The percentage change in foreclosures is up: 700 Percentage increase in foreclosures from 2005 to 2006.
Sub prime loans are a large percentage of outstanding mortgages: 13: Percentage of outstanding mortgages accounted for by subprime loans
Dylan,
ReplyDeleteThis prompt requires cards.
Never mind I see. My bad.
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