Subscribe to Receive the Daily Report

Friday, May 31st, 2013

Half of America is in or Near Poverty — and It’s Getting Worse

Author:     PAUL BUCHHEIT
Source:     Nation of Change
Publication Date:     Tuesday - 28 May 2013
 Link: Half of America is in or Near Poverty — and It’s Getting Worse
Stephan:   Here is the latest in the breakdown of the middle class. As you read this, remember the Pew study on women, and the lower cohort in poverty. We are becoming a second world country, with a crumbling infrastructure, an uber-rich class, an oversized military, and what amounts to a growing impoverished prole class mesmerized by sports, values politics, consumerism, and American idol shows. The growing irrelevancy of the traditional structures of American governance can easily be seen in our corrupt barely functioning Congress, increasingly made up of people who see Federal politics as not a career culmination, or an act of public service but, instead, as a stepping stone to commercial success and celebrity.

The Census Bureau has reported that 15% of Americans live in poverty. A shocking figure. But it’s actually much worse. Inequality is spreading like a shadowy disease through our country, infecting more and more households, and leaving a shrinking number of financially secure families to maintain the charade of prosperity.

1. Almost half of Americans had NO assets in 2009

Analysis of Economic Policy Institute data shows that Mitt Romney’s famous 47 percent, the alleged ‘takers,’ have taken nothing. Their debt exceeded their assets in 2009.

2. It’s Even Worse 3 Years Later

Since the recession, the disparities have continued to grow. An OECD report states that ‘inequality has increased by more over the past three years to the end of 2010 than in the previous twelve,’ with the U.S. experiencing one of the widest gaps among OECD countries. The 30-year decline in wages has worsened since the recession, as low-wage jobs have replaced formerly secure middle-income positions.

3. Based on wage figures, half of Americans are in or near poverty.

The IRS reports that the highest wage in the bottom half of earners is about $34,000. To be eligible for food assistance, a family can earn up to 130% of the federal poverty line, or […]

Read the Full Article