U.S. Poverty level likely rose in 2003; Income gap wider

[librechik]

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20040819/pl_nm/economy_poverty_dc_1

snip
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - More Americans likely slid into poverty in 2003 and the gap between the rich and poor widened, economists said on Thursday in a report that could fuel Democrat criticism of President Bush (news - web sites).


While the nation's official poverty rate will not be released until next week, the left-leaning Center for Economic and Policy Research estimated 700,000 Americans were added to the ranks of the poor last year, based on early numbers.

That takes the number of poor in the United States to about 36.4 million, from 35.7 million in 2002.

The poverty line is set at an annual income of $9,573 or less for an individual, or $18,660 for a family of four with two children, according to the Census Bureau (news - web sites).

Using Census Bureau data for the first half of 2003, economist Heather Boushey said the percentage of the U.S. population living in poverty rose to 12.8 percent, up from 12.7 percent in the first half of 2002.

Children were even more likely to be poor, the study showed, with poverty rising to 18.8 percent of children in 2003 from 18.6 percent in 2002.


snip

Make the pie higher!

[catmandu57]

1. Well you know the haves

just have to have more. How much is enough?

[boot@9]

2. Quoting

Thomas Frank in What's The Matter With Kansas. (the rich) "know that poverty rocks. Poverty is profitable. Poverty makes stocks go up and labor comes down"

[Warpy]

3. The poverty formula itself is dishonest

because it hasn't been adjusted for decades. It assumes a family of four spends 1/3 of its family budget on food, and that it now takes $6000/year to accomplish that. The problem is that the price of everything else has inflated much more quickly than the cost of food, and the family budget now requires only 1/6 to be spent on food. Since the price of food requires that family to spend $6000/year, the poverty level should be raised to $36,000/year for a family of four.

Were they to do that, a lot of families who think they've made it to the middle class because they've been able to afford minimal housing will be shocked to find out they've actually fallen into poverty.

The continued misrepresentation of poverty has allowed both parties of the government to subsititute destitution for poverty, something which should never have been allowed to happen. That the number of people living at half the poverty level, which is destitution, folks, is rising should be a source of deep shame in Washington DC.

Oh, wait. They've got theirs, right?

[Doctor Smith]

4. Does this count just citizens, or all residents?

[librechik]

7. It;s the US Census--did they count illegals this year?

can't remember.

[Cocoa]

5. results matter

[mediaman007]

6. Mission Accomplished!

[struggle4progress]

8. kick for lumpen proletariat

:kick:

[TahitiNut]

9. Here's their graph through 2002. Note the Republican years.

[Judi Lynn]

10. Can't wait to hear the official Bush spin on THIS news.

You know it's going to make you gag, don't you?

We should start a pool. I'm betting they'll say it's because of John Kerry's votes in the Senate.

[TahitiNut]

11. Just how STUPID are people in Utah? (Then there's Mississippi.)