The McClatchy Newspapers commissioned a study of severe poverty in the U.S., severe poverty being defined at half the federal poverty line. In dollars and cents that's an annual income of $9,903 for a family of four or $5,080 for an individual. The study found that the number of those experiencing severe poverty increased by 26% from 2001 to 2005, when it seems to have leveled off somewhat. Almost half of this nation's poor are severely poor.
For the past twenty years this country has been at or near the top of the charts recording the poverty rates for children, individual adults and families (Luxembourg Income Study). We rank third (after Mexico and Russia) in the share of GDP going to federal anti-poverty programs, which, according to a study by the Center for Policy Research, don't do a very good job in reducing poverty; in fact, only Russia and Mexico do a worse job. But, why worry? We can still treat our dogs to spa days.
It appears as though the rapid rise in the number of the severely poor is due to the fraying of the social safety net as well as the decline in low-skilled jobs.
No comments:
Post a Comment