Growing number of workers are poor: study

[AlphaCentauri]

Source: Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Even before the collapse of major U.S. banks and the Dow's plunge, the rolls of America's working poor grew as their piece of the U.S. economic pie shrank, according to a study released on Tuesday.

The percentage of working families who were poor rose to 28 percent in 2006, from 27 percent in 2002, the Working Poor Families Project said in a report based on government data collected as part of the American Family Survey.

"If we start factoring in what's happened this year, we know the number will increase," said Brandon Roberts, an author of "Working Hard, Still Falling Short."

The report found that 9.6 million working families were poor in 2006, up from 9.2 million in 2002, the report said. "One-third of all (U.S.) children reside in low-income working families," said Roberts.



Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSTRE49D5PU20081014

[mbperrin]

1. B-b-b-b-b-ut they're all just a buncha welfare cheats! I know, cause the TEEVEE

told me so!

Next thing you'll be tellin' me is that the $700 billion is corporate welfare!!!

Surely no sarcasm tag is needed here.

[SpiralHawk]

2. "Mission Accomplished." - Commander AWOL & Republicon Cronies

"Shock & Awe, baby. Smirk." - Commander AWOL & Corrupt Republicon Cronies

[OhioChick]

3. A sad situation that will only worsen. n/t

[katty]

4. merry x-mas: "are there no workhouses? no prisons?" (for them)

W's legacy: from Bedford Falls to Pottersville in 7 years

[torbird]

5. What? No! Wait'll I tell mom!

Wake up, mom! It's my turn to sleep on that pile of straw...and I got something to tell ya!

[BootinUp]

6. The number of children in low-income families

is staggering. And this in the greatest country in the world* ?

[WriteDown]

10. I'll play devi's advocate a bit here....

If you are making 42K, you shouldn't even be considering 2 children. I know that when I was making that much, starting a family wasn't even a consideration.

[BootinUp]

12. What do you propose

sterilization?

[WriteDown]

13. Being extra careful?

I remember using 2-3 forms of birth control to prevent having children. It just wasn't feasible.

[BootinUp]

16. So you favor more education about birth control

I agree, never a bad thing really. While we are at it, require education on family budgeting. Also how do address the income disparity in this country that has been getting worse? Any thoughts?

[pitohui]

15. true dat BUT if you are among the working poor and you get PG what then?

the rich have a choice of destinations and even countries where they can fly their wives and daughters to get abortions

i do not know any more where a woman could get a safe legal abortion in louisiana, there used to be two places i knew of to my certain knowledge in new orleans(orleans parish) itself -- no more, they ain't there no more


if the poor can't plan their families then simply because they don't have access to the same tech, they are going to have more kids -- yes, there is the pill BUT keep in mind that many poor and minority women are at a higher risk for some conditions like obesity, diabetes, etc which means that hormonal birth control may not be prescribed for them (a doctor fearing blood clots and covering ass or a doctor legitimately concerned about the woman's health whatever), you can say condoms all you like but if you have regular sex then condoms do break, there has to be a back-up plan


my two cents, for my part, seeing i would never have a chance at a good income i was HIGHLY motivated to not have a child, but not every woman is going to use a coat hanger or an herbal brew and take a chance of losing her life if she can't get a legal safe abortion -- i would HOPE i would be in a minority of women willing to take my own life rather than have an unwanted child, that surely isn't evidence of health is it?

the only place that i know of now in the area is not a real place to get abortions, it's a religious brain washing place -- another trap to keep the woman pregnant and unable to make good choices

children keep families poor, frankly, if everyone just stopped having them until this country made some changes, we might see some changes made, but the society is deliberately set up so that poor and lower income working women can't really choose

[WriteDown]

38. I'm sure you're heart is in the right place but...

this is mildly racist. I worked briefly with healthcare on the Eastern Cherokee reservation and we encouraged every woman(99.9% minority) to be on either the pill, patch, or shot almost without exception(most exceptions were due to immuno disorders). Every single person has access to plenty of options at zero cost. They just need to go physically pick them up.

[conflictgirl]

28. Considering that that's the median income, you're saying that millions of people shouldn't have kids

As someone in that income bracket who loves their kids and put a lot of thought into having them, I resent any implication - devil's advocate or otherwise - that I shouldn't have had them. There are already enough things in life that are the sole province of the rich...having children shouldn't also be in that category.

[WriteDown]

32. Sorry....

I feel that if you don't have the income, they shouldn't be a consideration. I had to wait many years and many jobs before I began to even think kids were an option.

[raccoon]

40. Well, what if somebody had what you consider income enough, had kids,

and then they get laid off? Nowadays, many people who lose well-paid jobs with benes are NEVER going to get a job making that much again. So many good-paying jobs have left the country.

[WriteDown]

36. That's just the way I feel...

I've lived through it too. Getting too late for me to consider.

[Zhade]

34. YOU? Play the conservative advocate?

I'm shocked, shocked I tell you!

[WriteDown]

35. Did not know that advocating population control

was conservative. The world truly is topsy turvy.

[denverbill]

7. Bush just trying to make more Americans 'uniquely American' by making them work 2-3 jobs.n/t

[AlphaCentauri]

11. I think Europeans work less and have strong economies n/t

[CoffeeCat]

8. The rampant use of credit cards is the problem!!

Because people are using major credit cards and store cards----stores have risen their prices,
because when people use credit cards for purchases, they are willing to spend more total dollars
and pay higher prices.

If you have to pay cash, it hurts more. Paying cash promotes more responsibility. Paying
with credit cards leads to foolish economic choices.

Credit cards have totally perverted prices and the afford-ability of goods and services.

I'll use the example of Pier One. Before credit-cards, that store had all kinds of
affordable items. Now, when you walk in--you are greeted by a huge sign which offers
a credit card.

With more people using store cards like this--consumers will unwittingly pay more for
things they don't need. They'll also buy bigger-ticket items.

So now, candles that were once $2-$3--are now $20 and $30. The store is brimming with
overpriced, junk furniture that falls apart within a couple of years. Yet, people will
spend $500 on a shelf or a coffee table, because credit cards cause foolish choices.

Average people, who want to buy a gift or a little something for their house--cannot afford
to do so anymore.

Pier One is just one example. So many big-box stores are like this--Home Depot, Bed, Bath & Beyond,
Crate & Barrel, Target, Pottery Barn, Department stores, etc.

In this country now--it is a splurge to purchase clothing for yourself--because the rampant use
of credit cards has driven up prices.

It's nuts!

[pitohui]

18. that's just silly

the price of candles has spiked because the price of beeswax is thru the roof, you may have heard about the troubles affecting the worldwide bee population, if not, i invite you to google, this is not too secret information

poor working families are not shopping at pier 1, that's just nonsense, i can see from the locations who shops at pier 1, bored doctor's wives buying cheap crap for a lawn party (a $20 candle or 20 is cheap to them)

credit cards did not kill the bee or inflate the cost of candles

some middle class people got in trouble w. credit cards and that is very sad, but it is not the poor person's fault who if she has a cc at all uses it buy groceries and gas so that she isn't mugged on a daily basis in a rough neighborhood

it hurts to pay w. cash when a substantial percent of the time if you are known to have cash, you are going to be ROBBED

fire your bullets where it's helpful not where it's hurtful

pushing people into cash will kill at least some small percentage of those who live in bad neighborhoods

armed robbers make a routine of robbing people who get paid in cash around here

[CoffeeCat]

20. I understand what you are saying...

...about the bees---but the candles were only ONE example!

Pier One sells mainly $20-$50 items now that used to be in the less expensive range.
If you want a serving bowl--instead of $10, an average serving bowl is $50.

They do this, because people are willing to pay it.

Now, don't give me a major dissertation on why serving bowls are expensive!

It is obvious that store credit cards have enabled foolish choices. The prices in these
stores are higher--because people are willing to pay these prices. They pay them because they
have credit cards, and because they think less when they use them.

Again---the candles were just an example! It's not just the candles...it's everything in
that store. And many, many other stores.

[pitohui]

21. way to miss the point

if you force people to go back to using cash, they will be badly hurt because they will be victimized by armed robbers

that's pretty basic

working people are not buying $50 bowls, poor working people can't even get out to a pier 1, they are located in distant suburbs, i do not know of any pier 1 in an area where an urban working poor person would shop, the three i know of are in upscale areas, the price of rice at pier 1 is an irrelevance

i understand that you dislike credit cards but if you push everyone back to cash then people who live in the neigbhorhoods where the police won't patrol -- that would be poor and working class neighborhoods -- will see a spike in armed robberies

we just had a 20 yr old kid killed in an armed robbery yesterday in the gno area -- shot in the back of the head after the robbers previously failed to get anything from the two little old ladies they targeted

[CoffeeCat]

25. Actually, you and I agree more than you think....

I am pointing out that credit-cards have been terribly bad for
the economy. That credit cards have done all sorts of terrible
things--including trapping and enslaving people and keeping
them in debt and totally beholden to evil corporations.

It makes me so angry, I could spit!

However, I agree with you. Suddenly going to an all cash system
right now--would bring this country to its knees. Many people
have grown to rely on those cards--just to buy gas and food.

It makes me so sad. Those evil companies lured people who
were vulnerable--into using those cards. So, those people
are further enslaved and trapped in debt.

I'm not advocating getting rid of all credit cards--because
at this point--it's too late. We're all ready addicts. Going
cold turkey would only harm the poor and the middle class. It
would be shocking and grossly unfair, at this point.

But you know what? This is part of the reason, I hate credit
cards----the card companies will most likely cut off people
from credit. It's coming soon. They'll demand payment in full
or they'll just shut people off for whatever reason they feel like.

That's what happens. Good, decent people who were just trying to
feed their families and get to work--will end up so royally screwed--when
these companies finally say, "Well, we've made trillions off of you leeches,
and now we're cutting you off."

It's happening. It's coming.

I fear for these people. I am concerned about anyone who is relying on
a credit-card to survive or to supplement their income---that includes
people and also businesses!

The robbery scenario you described will be happening multiple times every day--in every
city in this nation. Unfortunately.

[pitohui]

27. oh i know you're right

just frustrated at the world for the moment

[CoffeeCat]

31. me too...

...and my husband currently thinks that the economy is just fine. Help! I think
I'm a bit on edge as well...

:hug:

[anarch]

19. I know you hate those credit card companies, not to mention credit abusers

but I think there are bigger issues here. Not only the increased actual cost of bringing goods to market, but also the weak dollar. $20 that used to be enough to buy a week's worth of groceries with which to make varied, satisfying meals now buys maybe a week's worth of sustenance food--rice, beans, a couple vegetables--and that's about it. And in conjunction with that, there hasn't been any real, useful increase in average wages to keep up with the cost of living...so average people who used to be able to do things like buy new clothes and furnish their houses and whatnot can now barely afford to "put food on their families".

Any annual pay increases I've gotten haven't even kept up with the increases in rent and other costs of living in current dollars...add in the weak dollar, and I'm probably making less than I was several years ago, despite nominal increases, if you count the actual purchasing power.

[pitohui]

22. plus poor people w. diabetes can't live on a rice diet...

you cannot control your glucose readings on a rice diet w. a couple of veggies on top, you will get sick, you could lose a foot or your eyesight, you could die

and unfortunately poor minority people seem to have a higher risk of diabetes to start with

people want simple answers but simple answers are usually wrong answers

[anarch]

23. right, but that's just "living beyond your means"

if you are poor, obviously you can't afford to have diabetes...so you should get another job and save up until you can afford it.


(sorry, have heard this "well you just shouldn't have used your credit card to eat" argument one too many times...)

[faulknercindy]

9. that would be me

we make it month to month and half the time do not do that even.

[harmonicon]

14. water is wet: study

fire is hot: study

hitting your own hand with a hammer really hurts: study

[anarch]

17. I'm sensing some kind of a pattern, here...

like, all this stuff might be somehow connected. It's all...like...eerie and stuff.

[CoffeeCat]

26. It feels......orchestrated...

...doesn't it?

:scared:

I think Naomi Klein would tell us that everything we're seeing now is
manufactured economic shock.

[slackmaster]

24. I've been chronically sub-rich since entering the workforce in 1981

:argh:

[kineneb]

37. me too! n/t

[Geronimo12]

29. It was to be expected

Bush has explicitly said that his base is the "elite".

[GoddessOfGuinness]

30. Make the pie higher!

MAKE THE PIE HIGHER
by George W. Bush


I think we all agree, the past is over.
This is still a dangerous world.
It's a world of madmen and uncertainty
and potential mental losses.

Rarely is the question asked
Is our children learning?
Will the highways of the Internet become more few?
How many hands have I shaked?

They misunderestimate me.
I am a pitbull on the pantleg of opportunity
I know that the human being and the fish can coexist.
Families is where our nation finds hope, where
our wings take dream.

Put food on your family!
Knock down the tollbooth!
Vulcanize society!
Make the pie higher! Make the pie higher!

[eppur_se_muova]

39. Free verse is a natural for Bu**sh** ...

free of structure, content, meaning ...

[newtothegame]

33. Disturbing n/t