Posts
Definition
At its most basic, poverty is a lack of sufficient resources. The amount of resources needed to stay out of poverty is subject of debate, but it is generally defined by a society and the values embraced by that society. In the United States, we have set an income level that is known as the poverty line. A single person who earns less than 11, 201 a year was considered to be living in poverty in 2008. The percentage of people who live under the poverty line is the poverty rate.
Problems with the Statistic
The united states poverty rate is understated for a number of reasons. The number does not take into account the different income levels needed to live in different parts of the country. (It costs more to live in California than Nebraska for instance.) The "basket of goods" used to determine the poverty line has not been updated in 50 years. (The prices are indexed for inflation, but the goods themselves have not been altered.)
The United States
In 2007, 12.5% of all Americans lived in poverty. This is 37.3 million people. With the current economic crisis in full swing, it is expected that the 2008 and 2009 numbers will decline further. (When George W. Bush took office, the poverty rate was 11.3%, which is still too high. His administration clearly did not do enough to tackle this problem.)
Like other developed countries, poverty in the United States is cyclical. At some point over every ten year period, 40% of Americans will experience poverty.
Further Reading
No comments:
Post a Comment