| US Poverty Is On Track To Reach Highest Level In Almost A Half-Century |
| Jul-23-2012 |
| Keywords: poverty, 1965, obama, economy |
Despite spending $15 trillion on entitlements and social safety nets, the percentage of Americans living in poverty is on track to reach the highest level in nearly a half century.
The Associated Press surveyed more than a dozen economists, think tanks and academics and found a broad consensus: The official poverty rate will rise from 15.1 percent in 2010, to as high as 15.7 percent in 2011. That's an increase of more than a half percentage point. And even if the poverty rate only moves .1 percent higher, it would still amount to the highest level since 1965.
With a real unemployment rate of close to 15% and some 25 million Americans either unemployed or underemployed, poverty is spreading across many groups.
Suburbs are seeing increases in poverty, including in such political battlegrounds as Colorado, Florida and Nevada, where voters are coping with a new norm of living hand to mouth.
This year's election race will likely be dominated by factors and discussions about the middle class in America. A fact that could work against President Obama as millions could fall through the cracks as their government aid in the form of unemployment insurance and food stamps evaporate.
A host of factors are contributing to a still frustratingly weak labor market, such as globalization, automation, outsourcing, immigration, and less unionization that have pushed median household income lower. Even after strong economic growth in the 1990s, poverty never fell below a 1973 low of 11.1 percent.
Peter Edelman, director of the Georgetown Center on Poverty, Inequality and Public Policy told the Associated Press, " I'm reluctant to say that we've gone back to where we were in the 1960s. The programs we enacted make a big difference. The problem is that the tidal wave of low-wage jobs is dragging us down and the wage problem is not going to go away anytime soon." |
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Posted by Lou Dobbs Staff at 11:00 AM Email to a friend |
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