{"id":17999,"date":"2013-05-26T22:59:56","date_gmt":"2013-05-27T02:59:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theredphoenixapl.org\/?p=17999"},"modified":"2013-05-26T22:59:56","modified_gmt":"2013-05-27T02:59:56","slug":"the-real-numbers-half-of-america-in-poverty-and-its-creeping-upward","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/redphoenix.news\/es\/2013\/05\/the-real-numbers-half-of-america-in-poverty-and-its-creeping-upward\/","title":{"rendered":"The Real Numbers: Half of America in Poverty – and It’s Creeping Upward"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Homeless\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The Census Bureau has reported that one out of six Americans lives in poverty. A shocking figure. But it’s actually much, much worse.<\/span><\/address>\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/address>\n

El<\/span>\u00a0Census Bureau<\/span><\/a><\/span>\u00a0has reported that 15% of Americans live in poverty. A shocking figure. But it’s actually much worse. Inequality is spreading like a shadowy disease through our country, infecting more and more households, and leaving a shrinking number of financially secure families to maintain the charade of prosperity.<\/span><\/p>\n

1. Almost half of Americans had NO assets in 2009\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Analysis of\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0Economic Policy Institute<\/span><\/a><\/span>\u00a0data shows that Mitt Romney’s famous<\/span>\u00a0\u00a047 percent<\/span><\/a><\/span>, the alleged ‘takers,’ have taken nothing. Their debt exceeded their assets in 2009.<\/span><\/p>\n

2. It’s Even Worse 3 Years Later\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Since the recession, the disparities have continued to grow. An<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0OECD report<\/span><\/a><\/span>\u00a0states that “inequality has increased by more over the past three years to the end of 2010 than in the previous twelve,” with the U.S. experiencing one of the widest gaps among OECD countries. The 30-year<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0decline in wages<\/span><\/a><\/span>\u00a0has worsened since the recession, as low-wage jobs have<\/span>\u00a0replaced<\/span><\/a><\/span>\u00a0formerly secure middle-income positions.<\/span><\/p>\n

3. Based on wage figures, half of Americans are in or near poverty.\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

El\u00a0<\/span>IRS<\/span><\/a><\/span>\u00a0reports that the highest wage in the bottom half of earners is about $34,000. To be eligible for food assistance, a family can earn up to<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0130%<\/span><\/a><\/span>\u00a0of the federal\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0poverty line<\/span><\/a><\/span>, or about $30,000 for a family of four.<\/span><\/p>\n

Even the Census Bureau recognizes that its own<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0figures<\/span><\/a><\/span>\u00a0under-represent the number of people in poverty. Its\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0Supplemental Poverty Measure<\/span><\/a><\/span>\u00a0increases, by 50%, the number of Americans who earn between one-half and two times the poverty threshold.<\/span><\/p>\n

4. Based on household expense totals, poverty is creeping into the top half of America.\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

A family in the top half, making $60,000 per year, will have their income reduced by a total tax bill of about $15,000 ($3,000 for<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0federal income tax<\/span><\/a><\/span>\u00a0and $12,000 for<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0payroll, state, and local taxes<\/span><\/a><\/span>. The<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0Bureau of Labor Statistics<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span>and the<\/span>\u00a0Census Bureau<\/span><\/a><\/span>\u00a0agree that food, housing, and transportation expenses will deduct another $30,000, and that total household expenditures will be about $50,000. That leaves nothing.<\/span><\/p>\n

Nothing, that is, except debt. The median<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0debt level<\/span><\/a><\/span>\u00a0rose to $75,600 in 2009, while the median family<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0net worth<\/span><\/a><\/span>, according to the Federal Reserve, dropped from $126,400 in 2007 to $77,300 in 2010.<\/span><\/p>\n

5. Putting it in Perspective\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Inequality is at its ugliest for the hungriest people. While food support was being targeted for<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0cuts<\/span><\/a><\/span>, just<\/span>\u00a0\u00a020 rich Americans<\/span><\/a><\/span>\u00a0made as much from their 2012 investments as the entire<\/span>\u00a0\u00a02012 SNAP<\/span><\/a><\/span>\u00a0(food assistance) budget, which serves 47 million people.<\/span><\/p>\n

And as Congress continues to cut life-sustaining programs, its members should note that their 400 friends on the\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0Forbes list<\/span><\/a><\/span>\u00a0made more from their stock market gains last year than the total amount of the<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0food<\/span><\/a><\/span>,\u00a0housing<\/span><\/a><\/span>, y<\/span>\u00a0education<\/span><\/a><\/span>\u00a0budgets\u00a0combined.<\/span><\/p>\n

Arguments about poverty won’t end. Neither should our efforts to uncover the awful truth.<\/span><\/p>\n

Note:\u00a0This is an updated, corrected version of the original article, approved by the author.\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Fuente<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Census Bureau has reported that one out of six Americans lives in poverty. A shocking figure. But it’s actually much, much worse. \u00a0 The\u00a0Census..<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":38013,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[152,166,172,181,97],"tags":[229,197,347],"class_list":["post-17999","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-government","category-healthcare","category-labor","category-us-news","tag-economic-exploitation","tag-imperialism","tag-workers-struggle"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/redphoenix.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/man-in-american-poverty1.jpg?fit=800%2C533&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/redphoenix.news\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17999","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/redphoenix.news\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/redphoenix.news\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redphoenix.news\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redphoenix.news\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17999"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/redphoenix.news\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17999\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redphoenix.news\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38013"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/redphoenix.news\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17999"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redphoenix.news\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17999"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redphoenix.news\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17999"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}