News and Politics | December 15, 2011 | 49 comments

Almost half in U.S. are poor or low income

source: http://news.yahoo.com/census-shows-1-2-people-poor-low-income-054325860.html

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JanforGore
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."

Congressional Republicans and Democrats are sparring over legislation that would renew a Social Security payroll tax cut, part of a year-end political showdown over economic priorities that could also trim unemployment benefits, freeze federal pay and reduce entitlement spending.
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Mayors in 29 cities say more than 1 in 4 people needing emergency food assistance did not receive it. Many middle-class Americans are dropping below the low-income threshold — roughly $45,000 for a family of four — because of pay cuts, a forced reduction of work hours or a spouse losing a job. Housing and child-care costs are consuming up to half of a family's income.

States in the South and West had the highest shares of low-income families, including Arizona, New Mexico and South Carolina, which have scaled back or eliminated aid programs for the needy. By raw numbers, such families were most numerous in California and Texas, each with more than 1 million.

The struggling Americans include Zenobia Bechtol, 18, in Austin, Texas, who earns minimum wage as a part-time pizza delivery driver. Bechtol and her 7-month-old baby were recently evicted from their bedbug-infested apartment after her boyfriend, an electrician, lost his job in the sluggish economy.

After an 18-month job search, Bechtol's boyfriend now works as a waiter and the family of three is temporarily living with her mother.

"We're paying my mom $200 a month for rent, and after diapers and formula and gas for work, we barely have enough money to spend," said Bechtol, a high school graduate who wants to go to college. "If it weren't for food stamps and other government money for families who need help, we wouldn't have been able to survive."

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. 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. That's up by 4 million from 2009, the earliest numbers for the newly developed poverty measure.

The new measure of poverty takes into account medical, commuting and other living costs. Doing that helped push the number of people below 200 percent of the poverty level up from 104 million, or 1 in 3 Americans, that was officially reported in September.

Broken down by age, children were most likely to be poor or low-income — about 57 percent — followed by seniors over 65. By race and ethnicity, Hispanics topped the list at 73 percent, followed by blacks, Asians and non-Hispanic whites.

Even by traditional measures, many working families are hurting.

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. That proportion is the highest in at least a decade, up from 27 percent in 2002, according to a new analysis by the Working Poor Families Project and the Population Reference Bureau, a nonprofit research group based in Washington.

Among low-income families, about one-third were considered poor while the remainder — 6.9 million — earned income just above the poverty line. Many states phase out eligibility for food stamps, Medicaid, tax credit and other government aid programs for low-income Americans as they approach 200 percent of the poverty level.

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. By some census surveys, child-care costs consume close to another one-fifth.

Paychecks for low-income families are shrinking. The inflation-adjusted average earnings for the bottom 20 percent of families have fallen from $16,788 in 1979 to just under $15,000, and earnings for the next 20 percent have remained flat at $37,000. In contrast, higher-income brackets had significant wage growth since 1979, with earnings for the top 5 percent of families climbing 64 percent to more than $313,000.

A survey of 29 cities conducted by the U.S. Conference of Mayors being released Thursday points to a gloomy outlook for those on the lower end of the income scale.

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49 comments // Almost half in U.S. are poor or low income

  • DEM46
    • 0
      DEM46  

    • Sociology teaches us there will always be small percentage of our population that will be unemployable, disabled, or underemployed. The big problem now is our lack of jobs for undereducated citizens. It wasn't long ago that someone who knew or could learn to do manual labor on a factory line was able to make a living and provide for themselves and a family. Those jobs no longer exist. Our system has been outdated for at least 20 years and the original problem began almost two generations ago.

      We need a private/public partnership to train people to do the jobs of today. Not everyone needs, wants, or should be steered toward a college degree. There is an important place for vocational education and more importantly, this complete retooling/restructuring the educational process that pairs employer's needs with undereducated people.

      Big job but it must be done to stem this endemic poverty problem that keeps increasing.

    • 1 year ago
  • PariahZ
    • +1
      PariahZ  

    • Give a man a fish you feed him for a day, teach a man to fish you feed him for a lifetime.

      This should be our ideology when it comes to liberating people from poverty.

    • 1 year ago
  • vaxart
    • 0
      vaxart  
    • PariahZ:

      Truly agree. We keep blaming about "Made in China". Why not train and set up industries within US. And remove a little bit of that lawsuit nonsense. This nation is slowly becoming a nation of prisoners and lawyers !!!

    • 1 year ago
  • PariahZ
  • alexandrek
  • PariahZ
  • Buddha2112
    • +1
      Buddha2112  
    • PariahZ:

      He means people too proud to beg. Not the scum of the earth that walk around grovelling for money... But people that worked their asses off and still couldn't make due.

      I don't understand the part about picture though. I guess he might mean that by trying to show 1 in 2 are poor, selecting a picture of only 2 people is probably not helpful in actualizing the real picture. They also appear to be minorities, which... Well, misses the point.

    • 1 year ago
  • JanforGore
    • +2
      JanforGore  
    • alexandrek:

      How do you know from a picture what the people in it are? And I neither took the picture nor placed it with the article. I tend to think the issue is much bigger than quibbling over a picture.

    • 1 year ago
  • DEM46
    • 0
      DEM46  
    • PariahZ:

      probably a poor choice of words but all people have worth. I'm sure he referred to those people who have never found themselves in this position before.

    • 1 year ago
  • youngdebater
    • +1
      youngdebater  

    • Thank you bush for this crappy economy! on the young turks last night i heard that alot of ceos are getting lots of money, and they aint doing nothing! so now everyone in america is screwed except for the billionares. *cough one precent cough*

    • 1 year ago
  • paplanner
    • +1
      paplanner  

    • Congratulations are in order for the University of Chicago, for providing the rationale for the race to the bottom that corporate America has won. Now that Wall Street, K Street, Republicans and Democrats have fleeced the citizenry and turned the US into a third world country, what is their next target? Parasitic capitalism is like a cancer, it engulfs all in its path and devours it, leaving no usable waste. Barack Obama has a lot to be proud of, but leading the USA in its dive to the bottom is his major accomplishment. Bet his mom and grandparents are proud of that. So much human misery created simply so the Walton Family can own the world.

    • 1 year ago
  • LT4456
    • +1
      LT4456  

    • Things have been starting to get better since the bush administration. Obama is doing what he can but needs our help!

    • 1 year ago
  • hombre76
  • jubal
    • +1
      jubal  

    • You can only point to one cause for all of this: GREED IN THE FREE MARKET SYSTEM.

      Free Markets create scarcity.

    • 1 year ago
  • CalgarC
  • faye59
    • 0
      faye59  

    • I guess the Republican trickle-down didn't trickle like it was supposed to. How much longer will the poor keep voting against their own interests?

    • 1 year ago
  • dudefromtherock
  • unimatrix0
  • faye59
    • +1
      faye59  
    • unimatrix0:

      It's not surprising though. Clinton proved that trickle-down economics were a load of crap, but people let themselves be tricked by all those social issues that keep being resurrected every election cycle.

    • 1 year ago
  • crob80231
    • +5
      crob80231  

    • Billionaires have turned into mentally ill hoarders.

      Their psychotic plan to "make money" by slashing all our wages to $7.00 is bankruptng the country and will ultimately bankrupt their companies too. These CEO's are not brilliant business men, but mildly autistic elderly white men who are victims of a cash-hoarding compulsion.

      Aside from fucked-up mortgages what have these Randian "super men" given us in the last 10years? Jet packs? A cure for cancer? Pollution free renewable energy? Nope. These assholes make nothing, invent nothing and contribute nothing. And then we, in turn, hand them billions of dollars.

      Whatis the difference between Kim Kardashian and the typical hedge fund manager??? They are both talentless hacks who do nothing and yet "earn" millions of dollars.

    • 1 year ago
  • jubal
  • hombre76
  • Anonmaly
    • +1
      Anonmaly  

    • Almost half....?

      That's awfully optimistic... I'd almost say that's a lie, but then again you have so many people floating just above the poverty line that don't know their asses from a hole in the ground (along with many of their poorer peers), with their priorities so screwed up they're only making it worse...

      What are all those toys good for when your teeth are falling out of your head?

      What about those fancy clothes, and can't pay your bills?

      What's all that pop-culture savvy when all you really know how to do is talk shit about trendy things, and spend your life running around in circles working for slave wages chasing worthless products?

      Maybe I am hard on them, maybe I'm poor too, and much like we're all tired of the banks, corporations and government imposing on us due to their over inflated sense of entitlement....

      I'm sick and tired of my fellow poor people wanting to act like they think they should live like commercialized versions of self styled demigods, be totally irresponsible and I should pick up the slack....

      Fuck everybody....

    • 1 year ago
  • dudefromtherock
  • ArtBaron
    • +2
      ArtBaron [removed]  
    • Image

    • Lost in the numbers are how over the last 30 years conservatives have privatized more and more society as a whole. They talk about percentages of tax and how they are the job creators and so on and so forth. They point to how the top 1% are paying more and more of a percentage of the overall volume of tax paid.

      That may be true on the surface , but on top of that 2 major things have happened.

      The top percentage generally pay a much lower tax rate of THEIR income because of the majority of their income is through capital gains. Yes, they are paying more on the volume , but that is because they are making so much more in a skewed system for them. Every break that can be exploited is done so.

      In the middle and especially at the bottom , you have a pay as you go society with a new and expanding fee for everything. As a corporation, or writing off through them , the rich can absorb these costs and pass them on. The infrastructure that allowed them to get rich and the upkeep thereof is being paid more and more through these fees. Instead of raising taxes ( especially property ) to reflect the gaps - services are being cut back .

      If you want to access government , there is a fee.
      If you want to get any documentation , there is a fee.
      If you want to make sure the firemen show up, there is a fee.
      If you want your child to have the extras at school , then there is a fee.

      Instead of raising taxes , there is just a new fee which affects the poor so much more . ( especially since wages and benefits have flatlined for so long )

      Simply close the loopholes and tax the wealthier more and make government non-profit along the way.

    • 1 year ago
  • CollegiateMind
    • +2
      CollegiateMind  

    • Thanks for this post!
      In my own lifetime, I've never seen the level of apathy toward those who find themselves unemployed (not through wont of trying to find work), as I've seen in the past few years. Other than co-workers and some long-employed or business-owner friends, I now know several people with high credentials, good resumes and the willingness to work.. yet they now count themselves as among the needy. A very uncomfortable place to be.
      Even those who have suffered a downsizing in their income or company profits, can still do 'something' to help the less fortunate.

    • 1 year ago
  • JanforGore
    • +2
      JanforGore  

    • We're headed there again. And thinking about this you realize that perpetuating poverty along with austerity measures that only go to paying debts incurred by governments for their own pursuits without benefitting the people paying for it also perpetuates the rise of fascism. Fascist elements have been trying to gain control of the US government for years. We now see their ugly heads rising in legislation like the NDAA, which will be used to disparage revolt when circumstances become worse. "Al Qaeda" is just the front.

    • 1 year ago
  • Leen61
    • +2
      Leen61  

    • This is so disgusting! But we have money for starting multiple wars, money for the MIC, money to bail out banks and Wall Street, money for the 1% and now, we can be indefinitly detained! Maybe the poor/low income people will be detained next just for being poor. This country is so f**ked up!

    • 1 year ago
  • corndog67
    • +2
      corndog67  

    • We can cut education, essential services, police, fire, roads and other infrastructure, but we still have a need to spend BILLIONS in Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq and other foreign "aid", and it seems as if everyone in the world is our enemy, even though they've got their hand out for our money. Screw the rest of the world, we've got more than enough issues here at home, that we can't afford to fix, but we can try to police the whole rest of the world, with seemingly no help from any one else, even our so-called allies.

    • 1 year ago
  • ilikeike
    • +2
      ilikeike  

    • Well if everyone is depending on food stamps to survive, thats a hell of a tool for oppression, if you do anything anti-establishment you'll lose those benefits. Wait, I know, you can always rat on someone you know to get out of it, perfect!

    • 1 year ago
  • ilikeike
    • +2
      ilikeike  

    • I'm suspicious that these payroll tax cuts will be used in a future argument for the unsustainability of social security.

    • 1 year ago
  • cantucwearebrothers
    • +5
      cantucwearebrothers  

    • When I look around my neighborhood I would say it's more than half. I know that I am included in that number as are most that I know. It doesn't feel too terrible for my family and I, but then were aren't about to lose our home and my children don't go hungry. It's still a hit to your established understanding of success when you aren't making much more than you did in 1998.

      The fact that this is occurring is an atrocity.

      It always flabbergasts me that America has the highest rate of obesity and also struggles with hunger. We can be part of the solution if we choose to be.

      I've found myself randomly paying for people's groceries at the grocery store this Christmas. Don't get me wrong, we're not talking a weeks worth, but thirty or forty bucks here and there. I was unsure at first if people would be insulted; it was something that I considered. I've not found that to be the case, however, most are taken aback at the idea. Hopefully I'm not only putting a few more dollars in their pockets, but restoring, if only a little, the fact that compassion does still exist in our society.

    • 1 year ago
  • JanforGore
    • +3
      JanforGore  
    • cantucwearebrothers:

      You are a good soul.That's more than many would do. I bring groceries to the local food pantry when I can. Recently, those who used to supply the food are now looking for food. It is atrocious that the US claims to be the richest country in the world when people go hungry and live on the streets. And yes the other side of that equation is that our food system is also killing people with cheap substandard unhealthy toxic food we do have access to. And when you work hard every day, sometimes two or even three jobs and still can't get by while seeing these rich corporations getting away with actually poisoning the food you do have access to while making billions to toxify our land and water it shakes your soul. This is why I am so big on sustainable agriculture and local food. Sometimes the way things used to be done is actually the better way and is healthier for you. My community's leaders turned me away when I suggested a community farm the first time (the political machine is strong here )... but I'm not giving up.

    • 1 year ago
  • cantucwearebrothers
    • +2
      cantucwearebrothers  
    • JanforGore:

      It's so easy to get wrapped up in our own day to day living that we forget there are little things that we can all do that have an impact. Even if it's just to one person one day; that is better than nothing.

    • 1 year ago
  • kbshana
    • +2
      kbshana  

    • this is what the government wants. As more and more people are forced into the lower class, they will grab more power and limit more freedoms as we become a police state that cares little for its people, and is more concerned with power and international influence. Although that too will soon be shown to be nothing but a paper tiger.

    • 1 year ago
  • JanforGore
    • +9
      JanforGore  

    • THIS IS THE SHAME OF AMERICA.

      It is pitiful especially when we don't even have a food shortage in this country. People throw out tons of food yearly without thought as others go hungry. It is simply that food is being made inaccessible or being exported for profit. Industrial agriculture is killing us. Even food is now nothing but a commodity to be traded with little to no care for those who have no access to it or way to afford it as prices continue to rise due to climate change, speculation, hoarding and waste. No one should go hungry in the United States of America ever.

      STOP BUYING DRONES AND FEED THE PEOPLE.

    • 1 year ago
  • Vic_Romano
  • coolplanet
  • JanforGore
  • coolplanet
    • 0
      coolplanet  
    • JanforGore:

      And it's been that way ever since Columbus and Cortez landed.
      The Aztecs foresaw this as the 'Nine Hells of Impending Doom.'
      According to their calanders that time is up.
      Just hoping.....

    • 1 year ago
  • jubal
    • +1
      jubal  
    • JanforGore:

      They have even learned to commoditize love....there is very little love left to motivate people to care, because they are too consumed with surviving and hanging on from paycheck to paycheck.

    • 1 year ago
  • JanforGore
  • CreditFigaro
    • +3
      CreditFigaro  

    • There is a SERIOUS problem of evil in our society.

      It is justified with a number of reasons (none of which there is any evidence for) and then people move on.

      Leaving so many in such pitiful circumstances simply so that the wealthy can satisfy their greed is the single largest driver of our miseries and failures in this country.

    • 1 year ago
  • artemis6
    • +2
      artemis6  

    • This will effect children the most . I am so angry at those that caused this and have turned their backs on any decent response to this .

    • 1 year ago
  • JanforGore
    • +2
      JanforGore  
    • artemis6:

      Yes, this affects our social structure, health both physical and mental and shows that those who run this country are no better than Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. Well we know what happened to them when the hunger of the people became too great... It is most evil to allow children to suffer in hunger and want.

    • 1 year ago
  • jubal
  • JanforGore
  • JanforGore
  • artemis6
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