Extreme Poverty Is Now At Record Levels: over 20 million Americans at less than 1/2 of poverty level

[stockholmer]

19 Statistics About The Poor That Will Absolutely Astound You

http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/extreme-poverty-is-now-at-record-levels-19-statistics-about-the-poor-that-will-absolutely-astound-you


According to the U.S. Census Bureau, a higher percentage of Americans is living in extreme poverty than they have ever measured before. In 2010, we were told that the economy was recovering, but the truth is that the number of the "very poor" soared to heights never seen previously. Back in 1993 and back in 2009, the rate of extreme poverty was just over 6 percent, and that represented the worst numbers on record. But in 2010, the rate of extreme poverty hit a whopping 6.7 percent. That means that one out of every 15 Americans is now considered to be "very poor". For many people, this is all very confusing because their guts are telling them that things are getting worse and yet the mainstream media keeps telling them that everything is just fine. Hopefully this article will help people realize that the plight of the poorest of the poor continues to deteriorate all across the United States. In addition, hopefully this article will inspire many of you to lend a hand to those that are truly in need.

Tonight, there are more than 20 million Americans that are living in extreme poverty. This number increases a little bit more every single day. The following statistics that were mentioned in an article in The Daily Mail http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2056864/Handout-nation-Food-stamp-map-America-reveals-hotspots-15-population-government-help.html should be very sobering for all of us....

About 20.5 million Americans, or 6.7 percent of the U.S. population, make up the poorest poor, defined as those at 50 per cent or less of the official poverty level. Those living in deep poverty represent nearly half of the 46.2 million people scraping by below the poverty line. In 2010, the poorest poor meant an income of $5,570 or less for an individual and $11,157 for a family of four. That 6.7 percent share is the highest in the 35 years that the Census Bureau has maintained such records, surpassing previous highs in 2009 and 1993 of just over 6 percent.

Sadly, the wealthy and the poor are being increasingly segregated all over the nation. In some areas of the U.S. you would never even know that the economy was having trouble, and other areas resemble third world hellholes. http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/american-hellholes In most U.S. cities today, there are the "good neighborhoods" and there are the "bad neighborhoods". According to a recent Bloomberg article, http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-11-03/recession-drives-more-people-into-poverty-wracked-neighborhoods-of-u-s-.html the "very poor" are increasingly being pushed into these "bad neighborhoods"....

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[undeterred]

1. I talked to someone today who lives on $750 a month

He gets food stamps, but its only $160 a month for a single person. He has subsidized housing and medicare. But can you imagine living on $160 of food a month? Can you imagine living on $750?

[Raksha]

2. And the Supercommittee has put Social Security cuts on the table,

along with Medicare and Medicaid cuts--and the Democrats are going along with it.

[defendandprotect]

4. We couldn't have ended up with predatory capitalism without collusion of Dems with Repugs -- !!

We need to be dismantling this national security state --

the MIC -- and the intelligence community --

Imperialist America concepts !!

[undeterred]

5. Then we need to get rid of these Dems and replace them

with real Democrats. Its sickening. The safetynet is pitiful.

[coalition_unwilling]

13. But the Occupy Movement IS NOT going along with it.

[Downwinder]

8. Yes. But is it living or just existing?

One meal per day at the Senior Center five days a week (closed on weekends). No
transportation (walking only). No phone. No laundry (cheaper to buy at Goodwill than to wash). No heat or AC.

The average SS is $1,000 per month which means that Approximately 50% are living on less than that. Survivor's benefits are 50%.

[undeterred]

10. I never shop at the grocery store he goes to because

its a little more expensive and has less selection. But he doesn't have a car and its the only one within walking distance. So many fewer choices when you are poor.

[jwirr]

11. I can - I live on $694 a month and get $169 food stamps and medicare.

I do not get a housing voucher because there is a waiting list so long it is not possible. I make it through the month with about $50 of personal spending money. It is not easy. But we are not the only ones - in fact if you happen to be a single young man/woman you get what is called General Assistance and that is usually something like $280 a month plus food stamps, medical assistance and if you are lucky you find someone to live with.

That is why there are so many young who are homeless or living at home for years.

[undeterred]

12. Wow, That must be tough.

Prices keep going up, and assistance doesn't.

[jwirr]

23. Yes, I feel the prices going up a lot. But I have always been poor

so I have learned a long time ago how to deal. And it does not hurt that I have a good family behind me. It gives me the security of knowing they will not let me starve if it comes to that. What hurts the most is never being able to help others when I want to. And very seldom being able to donate to the candidates I want to support.

Other things we rummage for and go to thrift stores, etc. It also makes one very aware of what they do have and thankful for that. I have a roof over my head, food most of the month, medical care and friends on DU.

[ooglymoogly]

32. Get on as many lists for housing as possible...In my state there are

hundreds of lists in many districts. You just have to keep truck'n on that front. I never realized so completely how those of us who own our own homes are so fortunate or where there but for the grace of etc, had so much meaning.

[dorksied]

30. I live on about $600 a month.

I used to have a good job working for a glass manufacturer, til they laid off 3/4 of their workforce when the economy crashed. They promised that they would rehire us all when the economy turned around, but then hired temp workers at 50% less pay and no benefits, and never looked back at those of us who got kicked to the side of the road.

Now I clean houses, part time, for about $600 a month. I live with my sister. I don't have a car, so I have to get rides everywhere.

I don't have food stamps either.

Plus, the fact that I have a 3rd degree felony from when I was 18 makes getting a good job hard in this economy, where getting a job is already hard for anyone.

I'm 32. I haven't ever had the money to go to college, or the time, since I have had to work crap wage jobs with long hours just to pay rent. I'd love to have gone to school and found a career, but I don't see that happening, not with college tuitions being what they are. I'm lucky enough to have very little debt, because I always pay for things with cash, and I don't want to put myself in debt for the rest of my life for school.

Life is pretty sucky, sometimes.

[defendandprotect]

3. 66 million Americans living in poverty -- 46 million us efood stamps -- !!!

But Obama isn't raising money in those neighborhoods -- !!


We need a primary challenger for 2012 -- someone who is a humanist --

someone with a heart!!

[Ilsa]

6. Considering the Democratic Collusion, I sometimes wonder if we need a new party. nt

[coalition_unwilling]

15. I've given up on the Dems. I'm now placing all hopes in the

Occupy Movement's spawning a Labor Party to represent the interests of the working class.

[chervilant]

28. Me, too... n/t

[chervilant]

27. ABSO-effin-LUTELY!!!! n/t

[inna]

7. another 'achievement'. this is an absolutely conscious policy, btw.

[kestrel91316]

9. Welcome to Dickensian America v1.0. V2.0 is in the works.

[boston bean]

14. I just read in the NYT yesterday that poverty was really at an all time low

and that the way they calculate it will be changed.

They will be adding in food stamps/unemployment/wic, etc and most of the people who they calculate as living in poverty won't be in poverty any more.

How do you like them apples?? Sort of made me sick. But the change in the way the poverty rate is caculated will be changed next year.

[coalition_unwilling]

16. Brings to mind Mark Twain's aphorism that there are 'lies,

damned lies and statistics.'

Rather than call it 'poverty,' why not call it 'subsistence living'? Becuase even with food stamps, UI, WIC and so on, these people are 'subsisting'. They are not thriving or prospering.

Fuck the NYTimes. It lost all credibility with its coverage of the run-up to Operation Shocking and Awful. It has the lives of 1,000,000+ Iraqis on its hands to answer for and should just STFU.

[boston bean]

17. just found the link. took a few minutes...

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/04/us/experts-say-bleak-account-of-poverty-missed-the-mark.html?_r=1

[coalition_unwilling]

19. Thanks for the link. I grew up poor and have scars that, 40 years

later, I'm still dealing with (hoarding, obsessive penny-pinching, and so on).

I still remember the stigma even 40 years later.

[boston bean]

20. if they are going to count those types of benefits, doesn't that sort of defeat the purpose.

I mean those people qualify for those. Why would they try to rig the numbers? everyone knows that if you receive those benefits you are below the poverty line. What will this calculation mean to those who receive the benefit.

Is this all to make it look like a lower #??

And after re-reading, looks like we will see the new number on Monday, not next year!

[coalition_unwilling]

21. Yes, the original measure of poverty counted only cash income, not

receipt of government benefits.

The way to measure truly the poverty level of our society is to assess without using government assistance numbers. Then you take a look at government assistance to find out how many the programs are lifting out of poverty. (Using that standard, Social Security has been one of the most successful anti-poverty programs in the history of mankind.)

So I agree with you that it seems like a face-saving gesture, not a way to get closer to the truth.

And I propose a measure other than poverty (like 'subsistence') be used. Trust me, subsistence living is not very pleasant.

[boston bean]

22. I agree. I think the line they use is way off base to begin with.

Maybe they should re-assess that.

from wiki:

Determining the poverty line is usually done by finding the total cost of all the essential resources that an average human adult consumes in one year.<6> This approach is needs-based in that an assessment is made of the minimum expenditure needed to maintain a tolerable life. This was the original basis of the poverty line in the United States, whose calculation was simplified to be based solely on the cost of food and is updated each year. The largest of these expenses is typically the rent required to live in an apartment, so historically, economists have paid particular attention to the real estate market and housing prices as a strong poverty line affector.

[TheKentuckian]

24. It will likely end up a way to reduce benefits even further, on the sly.

Sort of like the insanely low poverty level that is around 2/3 or less of full time pay at minimum wage. You'd think an adult at full time minimum wage would be in poverty and eligible for some serious help to lift out of the hole but instead they are counted in the "middle class" and are expected to be self sufficient and working those bootstraps.

I am bothered by this whole tact of slashing our very sub-par safety nets and manipulating what being poor is to save the wealthy a nickle.

[boston bean]

26. Yes, that is my concern as well.

I wish I could determine from the article if they were calculating expenses differently.

I just read that poverty is calculated by determining that families spend 1/3 of their income on food, and then multiply that cost out by three.

That is a pretty simplistic calculation.

The NYT article discusses the changes where they will count benefits, but I don't see anything about counting housing, medical costs, clothing, etc....

[chervilant]

29. AND,

to give them strategies to 'minimize' the extent of poverty among the Hoi Polloi, and to 'absolve' themselves of any responsibility whatsoever...

[SammyWinstonJack]

18. Shared sacrifice and Austerity measure FOR THE 99%!!! Leave the 1% aka the job creators ALONE,

will ya already? :silly:
:puke:

How many times have we heard that the poor in this country are far better off than the poor of third world countries?


In some areas of the U.S. you would never even know that the economy was having trouble, and other areas resemble third world hellholes.:shrug:

[mntleo2]

34. I wish they could talk to my Somalian friend Margaret...

I have written about her so much and she doesn't even know how she has impacted so many!

Margaret and I are activists for low income people. I always see her at the marches we have been doing for years. I love that girl!

A little about Margaret: She came to the US from the refugee camps, sponsored by the Catholic church she settled in Seattle where I live. She is a devout Christian who converted from her Muslim faith, yet still very respectful of her former faith. As a matter of fact she says her faith taught her to be a Christian, but that is another story. I met her when she and I, along with some Jewish, Hindu, and Christian congregations protected our local Mosque right after 9/11. At that time Margaret was just learning English, but now she is more than proficient.

Margaret was beaten and raped and had lost her entire family in Somalia, her husband and 4 children were murdered. When she came to the U.S. she immediately went to work and then her sponsorship ended (she was given a year to adapt with some help). Margaret found herself homeless and on the streets of Seattle for 2 years as one of the working poor. After spending time in the homeless shelters, Margaret then contracted the incurable TB that is rampant among the poor (nobody wants to talk about the possibility of that horrible disease going any further, again another story).

One time when we were sitting together and I was just soaking up her wisdom, I asked Margaret which poverty was worse, American poverty or Somalian poverty?

To my surprise, she said American poverty was worse ...

Margaret said that in Somalia if you are homeless, you go into the forest where people have lived for more than several millennium. They will teach you how to survive and how to find food and shelter. But in America, the Natives have all been chased away from their forests and if you tried to go there to survive, you would be arrested because someone else owns them now. In America, you have to pay for everything that is a necessity, your heat, your cooking facilities, shelter, you can't just build a fire to keep warm or cook or make a hut or pitch a tent to sleep. If you don't have the money to pay, well you are just expected to go without. You are expected to not sleep, not get warm, not go to the bathroom, and not eat unless you pay for it.

I have to say that there is no prouder American than Margaret. She says she loves that as a woman she has a voice and a vote. She says that while the conditions of poverty are horrible, there are so many people who are wonderful. Still her take on American poverty is powerful to me as an activist for the low income. It is also a message for someone who is poor myself and constantly told how "wonderful" it is to be a poor American rather than living in the Third World.

Indeed Margaret has taught me American poverty is about as Third World as it gets! Most of all, Margaret teaches me to enjoy to the max the necessities I have that make me comfortable, the friends I have who share with me as I do with them ~ and then to fiercely defend the right for others to have the same!

Margaret also teaches me that you may be poor, you may feel invisible, but this is a plus because while everyone is not seeing you, you can do a whole lot "under the wire". You can make a difference before they even know what has happened or can stop you, which many would do, especially when it comes to empowerment of the powerless. Poverty is a Big Business, and many live off the backs of the poor. They would not like what Margaret and I do, planting the seeds we plant, showing people they matter and how to stand for their rights. Oh no, as they smile and pretend they care, they don't like that at all!

One indication is for Margaret, and all the activists I know who have been working for decades for the poor is that someone posted this article posted on Du http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2056864/Handout-nation-Food-stamp-map-America-reveals-hotspots-15-population-government-help.html. See, this isn't really "news", it has been going on for decades since American austerity went on steroids in the 1990s, but has been happening bit-by-bit since Reagan took office.

In ending this, piece, I have to tell you that 5 years ago nobody but a few like Margaret and me would have noticed or cared. I have been on this forum for years and I can tell you this is true.

Now people like Margaret and I are going to sit back and watch the fruits of our labor take root ...


Thank-you!
Cat in Seattle

[boston bean]

25. wrong place...

[chervilant]

31. On the surface,

one can look at my financial situation, and assert that I'm 'doing a lot better than most,' since I have a car (ten years old and paid off) and I'm still in my own living space (a rental). Moreover, I'm still working (14 hours a week at $12 an hour, and 3 hours a week at $9 an hour).

However, as of the middle of December (imagine our highly commercialized Christmas with no income), I will have exhausted my unemployment benefits. My monthly income will drop to about $634.52, and that's only if I am allowed to work the full 17 hours per week I'm given. BUT, since I teach, I am facing three weeks of no income before the first of next year. Therefore, by the end of this year, I will have to move in with friends (not family, sadly, because they're still mired in abuse and addiction issues). Moving in with friends will mean that I have to sacrifice my last 'safety net' and cash in my meager (less than $7000) teacher's retirement account to move to another state.

Most of my retirement funds will go to my landlady (and friend) to catch up on the two and a half months of back rent I owe her. I cannot pay one of my bills this month, so I'm sure that will come out of the rest of those meager resources. Still, I should have enough to get where I'm going, and to 'carry' me for a while.

Some kind and charitable DUers once offered to help me (specifically with regards to two big holes in my teeth), but I could not bring myself to accept help from kind strangers when so many others NEED so much more! I've been an advocate for survivors of relationship violence for better than thirty years now, and I've SEEN abject poverty. Abject poverty hurts my heart! Since I am not in abject poverty, and my math chops should get me a job in the area to which I'm relocating, how can I accept help when there are children going hungry every day, or entire families struggling to survive in cars, or under freeway overpasses?!

However, if and when I DO find myself in abject poverty, I sincerely hope that our more fortunate brethren will continue to offer a hand up. I sincerely hope that those with more will NOT label me (nor others like me) a leech, or "a walking sponge, living off the kindness of strangers." I do believe there may come a time when I need to say, "Yes, please, and thank you so much for your selfless generosity." In short, I am echoing the adjuration of another post hereinabove: please, if you still have a job, if you still have a home, find ways to help our abject poor. BE, on your own individual level, the change we hope to see in this world!

I share my story, because there are very MANY people my age who are on the thin razor's edge of the Abject Poverty Abyss. While I am hopeful that the Occupy movement will result in significant economic reordering, many of us will still have to survive the coming catastrophic economic storm. Please, reach out to our fellow humans living in abject poverty. Please.

[JoeyT]

33. This is why the 1% had better give occupy exactly what they're asking for.

Because Occupy is the polite way of asking for economic equality.

Let it get bad enough and the food rioters won't be nearly as polite about it.

[paparush]

35. Kick! nt

[midnight]

36. Hey Washington stop playing golf and drinking and get these people

back to work...