Extreme Poverty Is Now At Record Levels - 19 Statistics About The Poor That Will Absolutely Astound

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The following are 19 statistics about the poor that will absolutely astound you....

#1 According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the percentage of "very poor" rose in 300 out of the 360 largest metropolitan areas during 2010.

#2 Last year, 2.6 million more Americans descended into poverty. That was the largest increase that we have seen since the U.S. government began keeping statistics on this back in 1959.

#3 It isn't just the ranks of the "very poor" that are rising. The number of those just considered to be "poor" is rapidly increasing as well. Back in the year 2000, 11.3% of all Americans were living in poverty. Today, 15.1% of all Americans are living in poverty.

#4 The poverty rate for children living in the United States increased to 22% in 2010.

#5 There are 314 counties in the United States where at least 30% of the children are facing food insecurity.

#6 In Washington D.C., the "child food insecurity rate" is 32.3%.

#7 More than 20 million U.S. children rely on school meal programs to keep from going hungry.

#8 One out of every six elderly Americans now lives below the federal poverty line.

#9 Today, there are over 45 million Americans on food stamps.

#10 According to the Wall Street Journal, nearly 15 percent of all Americans are now on food stamps.

#11 In 2010, 42 percent of all single mothers in the United States were on food stamps.

#12 The number of Americans on food stamps has increased 74% since 2007.

#13 We are told that the economy is recovering, but the number of Americans on food stamps has grown by another 8 percent over the past year.

#14 Right now, one out of every four American children is on food stamps.

#15 It is being projected that approximately 50 percent of all U.S. children will be on food stamps at some point in their lives before they reach the age of 18.

#16 More than 50 million Americans are now on Medicaid. Back in 1965, only one out of every 50 Americans was on Medicaid. Today, approximately one out of every 6 Americans is on Medicaid.

#17 One out of every six Americans is now enrolled in at least one government anti-poverty program.

#18 The number of Americans that are going to food pantries and soup kitchens has increased by 46% since 2006.

#19 It is estimated that up to half a million children may currently be homeless in the United States.

Sadly, we don't hear much about this on the nightly news, do we?

I quoted the whole thing because no part is more relevant than the others. Mods, feel free to edit, but I would like you not to.

This is for all those people that are think that OWS is doing something wrong. They might not have a clear message but now we all do and we know how wrong this is.

I hope someone sends this to an OWS participant and it spreads like wildfire. This is reason enough to be protesting.

This are disgusting and to not think this system is broken is ignorant in the true sense.

Any thoughts?

Pred...

reply to post by predator0187

Sadly, we don't hear much about this on the nightly news, do we?

There are more important issues. The "job creators" are being demonized and attacked! It's class warfare!

Thanks for the post. It's nice to see all this in one place. This is one of the saddest things I've seen in my life. And now we are getting into more wars? THAT makes sense.

Knew this was coming out, and wow. Not a lot to be happy about or proud of here, is there? But of course, according to some, we should all just "go out and get a job and quit whining." OWS has a pretty big clue about where the real problem lies. Government in bed with lobbyists in bed with corporations who have all sold this nation out to profit the few, and the rest of the 99% can go hang and keep watching the news get more and more dismal. Props to OWS for doing something to balance the 1% who honestly don't give a flying fig as they spread their brand of raping and pillaging to other nations now...like China and India and all those aligning or being forced to align with them.

And kudos to NAM too in at least attempting resistance and showing that there are choices, no matter how strong the propaganda machine is or how loud its doublespeak. Fewer people are being fooled now and time is getting shorter. I'm sure that real in-depth discussions of this data and it's real ramifications will rapidly be drowned out by the roar of their machine too.

USA...number 1. Not so much, eh? Sad days.

reply to post by TupacShakur


Isn't it funny how now that the "job creators" have all the money, there aren't any jobs. The end result of 30 years of trickle down economics.

When the government prints money, those who get the new money first get the most benefit.

This causes a transfer of wealth, from poor to rich.

Before you get too choked up might be good to find out what 'poor' actually means.

In 2005, the typical household defined as poor by the government had a car and air conditioning. For entertainment, the household had two color televisions, cable or satellite TV, a DVD player, and a VCR. If there were children, especially boys, in the home, the family had a game system, such as an Xbox or a PlayStation.[4]

I dont have a car, or tv, or air conditioning ...
I am not poor, I have all the basic needs met and many of the extras I want. I take no help from the gov. and pay taxes to boot.
www.heritage.org...

These stats really don't surprise me - I work with the poor as many are my clientele at my job. What amazes me though is how these folks prioritize expenses. Most of them are smokers - and absolutely won't give it up (in California, cigs are nearly $5 a pack). A lot of them also drink alcohol and buy/smoke marijuana and won't give that up, either. When their SSI checks run out in the middle of the month, they go to the food banks and get free food, when that really wouldn't be necessary if they prioritized appropriately. They have no medical expenses, as Medi-CAL has no co-pays. They are in low-income housing, so rent is ridiculously cheap. They have cable TV service. I see young welfare mothers with fancy acrylic nail jobs and the newest trendy clothes. This is the only country in the world with fat "poor" people. While the economy is a mess, we've got a long way to go before the real suffering begins.

Unfortunately, that's probably not too far off. When (not if) the government imposes REAL austerity cuts and checks are late or eliminated altogether - then things will really get rough.

reply to post by predator0187


Hi pred,

S&F.

Poverty levels in NZ children are shocking.

We have elections coming up in a few weeks - Hi, fellow kiwis, vote Labour!

National is all about the rich becoming richer.

Labour is about saving kids, raising the minimum wage, and helping the poor.

GO LABOUR!

there are more people on food stamps than there are people in canada. i can't even imagine that. can you imagine every single person in an entire country poor.

if you are one of those people, it's time to seriously consider moving to another country.

I wish people would travel more and see what real poverty is.
The term used in this article (and others I've posted on the same subject in recent weeks) is Relative Poverty, which is a statistical percentage of mean earnings nationwide

In 2009, in the United States of America, the poverty threshold for a single person under 65 was US$11,161; the threshold for a family group of four, including two children, was US$21,756.[11][12] According to the U.S. Census Bureau data released Tuesday September 13th, 2011, the nation's poverty rate rose to 15.1% in 2010.

Poverty threshold

This means that 15.1% of Americans earn less than 11,161 USD (for a single person) or less than 21,756 USD per family.
In daily terms that's 30.5 USD per single person and 59.60 USD per family per day.
Now compare with the international definition of Abject Poverty, which is set at earning less than 1.25 USD per day.

Originally posted by Aestheteka

This means that 15.1% of Americans earn less than 11,161 USD (for a single person) or less than 21,756 USD per family.
In daily terms that's 30.5 USD per single person and 59.60 USD per family per day.
Now compare with the international definition of Abject Poverty, which is set at earning less than 1.25 USD per day.

Keep in mind those numbers are gross income, not net. Take out the taxes on them and it paints a far different picture than those numbers belie.

And frankly, if you think people can survive, let alone get by on those numbers then I want to live where you live. Most places I know of that wouldn't even cover a roof over your head let alone food, transportation and electricity.

reply to post by dethduck


The average (working) person in my region earns about 300 Euros (411 USD) per month, that's 13.7 USD per day. We pay around 8 dollars per US gallon of gas. The monthly utility bill for a 3 bedroom apartment is around 200 USD (adjustments are made at end of year). We pay far more for food and clothing than you do. We pay far more for vehicles, both new and used, than you do. On top of all that, a sole trader (small business person) must also pay health and social insurance at a cost of 160 Euros (220 USD) per month, whether they earn any money or not.
Have you any idea what sort of expendable income that leaves?
Plus we have 20% tax on top of all that.
You guys have no idea whatsoever what poverty is. You confuse lack of material goods with poverty.
People in my region get by because they grow their own food stuffs - potatoes, vegetables, etc. They hunt. They rear animals for slaughter. They keep chickens. They conserve their food in jars for the winter months and don't rely solely on pre-packaged junk. They hand their clothes down and they buy second hand.
Men out here know how to build their own homes and repair every problem (otherwise they're not deemed men).
It's similar, in some regards, to what America used to be - before consumer society took over.

reply to post by Aestheteka

And here you are speaking with ignorance and self-righteousness. Converting Euros to US Dollars is in no way, shape or form a means to compare capability and means between two wholely different economic systems, no matter how similar.

Let me grant an example using the above posted gross income considered ”poor” for a single individual.

$11,161 earned income here in Massachusetts, after both federal and state taxes on income averaging to about 18.5% combined is roughly $9,096 net take home.

The average cost for a small single bedroom apartment in central Mass at the cheapest is about
$750-$800/mo. So just in a roof over your head there goes your entire income. You could apply for subsidized housing, but the waiting list is literally 8 to more months long, more so if you're single and male. Either way you are constantly one weeks paycheck from homelessness.

Then there is food. In most places in the states, particularly if you live in the cities, you cannot grow your own food. Agriculture is heavily regulated in the states. Sure, if you are lucky enough to have the space you could start a small garden but you will never be able to grow enough to feed you for more than a few months, let alone a year. Even less of you have a family. So you can apply for food stamps, but again if you are single, particularly a single male, its takes longer and is harder to get approved, and if you do you might get between $60 to $80 a month for food.

Just the basics, milk is on average about $4/gal. Bread about $2/loaf and eggs $3/doz. Produce and meat lately have been ever increasingly going up in price. The only thing remaining affordable is starchy foods like pasta and rice so expect to be eating a lot of that. Of course that means you'll need either electricity our gas heat.

I won't even begin to explain how ridiculous the cost of utilities can get, I think my point is made.

As high as your horse may be and your over-generalized view of the american lifestyle and mindset, you Do Not have a monopoly of the understanding if what ”real abject poverty” is like, nor are we ignorant or free from the experience simply because we are ”arrogant Americans slothfully living beyond our means.”

reply to post by dethduck


Man, have you ever left the US of A?
Have you ever been to Africa, or even Mexico?
As for telling me how much it costs to live In downtown Mass and that you can't grow food there - then move.
Over here, if one cannot find work then one goes to where one can. I know many men with MAs and MScs go to England, Holland or Germany for a few months to do manual labour in order to provide for their families.
Do you think the Industrial revolution would have occured if everyone would have stayed in their villages?
It's not a high horse. I'm sick of watching OWS complaining and winging that they want this and they want that. How about moving to a place where they can start from scratch and work hard and put food on the table for their families instead of just expecting someone to do it for them?
Go to Alaska and work in a cannery or on a pipeline. You'll earn loads of money and then you can return home, set up a business and join the 1% (after a few decades of hard graft like Americans used to do - it was called the American Dream).
You have been raised in an extremely wasteful society which is reliant on mass-produced pre-packaged goods. Because you can't afford them now you look to others to blame.
As for not understanding financial comparisons, I've been to 50 countries and lived in 6 - from the world's no.1 to the mid-low 100s.
A man used to be respected because he was self-reliant and could provide for his family; now a man is respected because he has the latest iPhone and a shiny pair of Nike sneakers. Do you see what is wrong with that picture?

Originally posted by jlv70
reply to post by TupacShakur

 

Isn't it funny how now that the "job creators" have all the money, there aren't any jobs. The end result of 30 years of trickle down economics.

Keep laughing assholes

Let's see how funny it all is when you lose your fat heads

Originally posted by Aestheteka
reply to post by dethduck

 

Man, have you ever left the US of A?
Have you ever been to Africa, or even Mexico?
As for telling me how much it costs to live In downtown Mass and that you can't grow food there - then move.
Over here, if one cannot find work then one goes to where one can. I know many men with MAs and MScs go to England, Holland or Germany for a few months to do manual labour in order to provide for their families.
Do you think the Industrial revolution would have occured if everyone would have stayed in their villages?
It's not a high horse. I'm sick of watching OWS complaining and winging that they want this and they want that. How about moving to a place where they can start from scratch and work hard and put food on the table for their families instead of just expecting someone to do it for them?
Go to Alaska and work in a cannery or on a pipeline. You'll earn loads of money and then you can return home, set up a business and join the 1% (after a few decades of hard graft like Americans used to do - it was called the American Dream).
You have been raised in an extremely wasteful society which is reliant on mass-produced pre-packaged goods. Because you can't afford them now you look to others to blame.
As for not understanding financial comparisons, I've been to 50 countries and lived in 6 - from the world's no.1 to the mid-low 100s.
A man used to be respected because he was self-reliant and could provide for his family; now a man is respected because he has the latest iPhone and a shiny pair of Nike sneakers. Do you see what is wrong with that picture?

So because the poverty is not similar to a third world country it does not count? The US is not a third world country and claims to be one of the richest but yet they have these statistics.

Why is it deemed okay in this world to leave your family for a couple months to make some money? That is not okay, people have families because they love being with them, people have children to spend time with them. That is helping turn the world into a worse place because nobody has time to be a family anymore.

If, and this is a big if, you can afford to only have one parent work, you are lucky. Most families have to have two incomes to survive, meaning their children have no time with their parents. And I'm not talking about owning a iPhone and driving a Benz, I'm talking getting by, not comfortably, just making ends meet.

Why should this be accepted in society today when 1% have more money than the rest combined? That one percent doesn't work, so they have the opportunity to spend tons of time with their children and significant other, they can choose their education and have much more opportunity in the world then their average working class counterpart.

I do not know where your getting the idea of starting a company and becoming the 1%, these people are born into money, and it will never be obtained by your average person. They want you to believe you can make it, but it's called a 'dream' for a reason, but in reality, you have a better chance of winning the lottery countless times until you accumulate billions...

Get a grip, most people work hard, too hard at that, a job should not be as big of a part of life as it has become in recent times. Most people spend more time at a job then with their family nowadays, and if that's okay with you, well, it doesn't take much to please you does it.

When did it become so bad to want more out of life? I'm not talking materialistic items, just plain more...

Careers are not first, nor should they ever be, you and your family are. They have made us forget that, but there is still a few people out there that realize this life that most people live is no life at all...

I feel terrible for the people that live in third world countries, it's horrible that anyone can live in such dire situations, but, we need to take care of our own first. We need people here not to be starving before we worry about others. Ever heard the flight attendant on a plane explain putting your mask on first to help someone struggling, because if you do not, you can't help anyone?

Pred...

But those countries that are 'socialist' that Americans hate so much, don't seem to have so much poverty, and 'free' at point of use health care, why is that? or have I been reading the wrong blogs?

The disparity of wealth continues to grow. Something is very wrong and needs to change..

reply to post by predator0187


You misunderstand the situation in 'poor' counrties. They CAN'T afford to live alone or have a New York 'Friends' style apartment. They live together in multiple generations. A single parent living alone over here is just fiction, something we only see on American soaps.
In an ideal world one shouldn't have to leave home or the family to work but that has been the case since Mitochondrial Eve and before (hunter gatherer society and nomadic existence). Ideally, you should bring your family with you but as there is no clear definition on what family means now it is extremely unlikely that your wife will follow you to the Alaskan wilderness to earn food.
Not when the government will pay welfare....
I was raised to believe that asking anything from anyone is something low, unless you can return the favour. I wouldn't be able to look my kids in the eye knowing that I'd brought them into this world and raised them on someone else's handouts. There is NEVEr an excuse for that.
And as for all the 1% being born into it, that's nonsense. The definition of the 1% is those earning 300k USD or more p.a. Personally, and this feeling is shared by the majority of people who work over here, I hate the fact that each year I must pay more and more social contributiuons because other people refuse to work. Welfare should only be paid to those in the direst need - those who cannot afford food and water, or those physically incapable of supporting themselves, and even then only as a voluntary charitable gift, not a right. I'm pretty damned sure that if 'social benefit' or 'welfare aid' or 'job seekers allowance' (depending on the terminology of the country one lives in) was changed to 'Charitable hand out for the poor and needy' far fewer people would be prepared to queue for it.