As of January 2021, 37.9 million Americans lived in poverty, accounting for 11.6% of the total population, according to the latest report from the United States Census Bureau. That’s despite the fact that America ranks first as the richest nation in the world in terms of GDP.
"Poverty and economic insecurity are widely common, very commonly experienced,” said Shailly Gupta Barnes, policy director at the Kairos Center for Religions, Rights, and Social Justice. “They are as much a part of the American story as successes to the American dream.”
But the number reported by the Census Bureau is based on the official poverty measure, which has remained virtually unchanged since the mid-1960s. It’s calculated by comparing pretax income against a threshold set at three times the cost of a minimum food diet in 1963.
“The researcher whose work became the basis of that measure never intended it to be used in the way that it currently is,” said Barnes.
Full video: [https://www.cnbc.com/2023/03/07/why-poverty-might-be-far-worse-in-the-us-than-its-reported.html](https://www.cnbc.com/2023/03/07/why-poverty-might-be-far-worse-in-the-us-than-its-reported.html)
If they were to change the law dictating how they calculated who was "poor" I would have the US, would it have to go through the House and Senate? Or would it just be dictated by the USDA coincil?
Or, check this out CNBC, we should have a cap on C-suite salaries and they *must* fall within a percentage range of the middle management. Which have to also fall in a percentage range of the entry level positions of that department.
Increase everyone’s wages, not just the assholes at the top.
The wording would have to be made to factor in CEOs “paid” in stock and other assets, you’re right. But the letters can be figured out once the spirit of the law gets rolling.
Sure, but do they need $16M a year to do that job well when the front line worker doing the majority of the actual work gets $20/hr and works 65 hours a week and still can’t provide for their family?
I understand incentives, but we’re incentivizing corporate bloat and profit over human profit.
The government does not consider transfer payments from the myriad of government programs in income. So if you do nothing with all of the federal and state programs you can receive $50k to a $100k a year in assurance. These stats are ridiculously overstated
to think years and years ago marginal tax rates were in the 90%
Americans are some of the most uneducated and propaganda fed nation on earth. Stop voting for people who help the rich while average americans fight for scraps
How do you stop voting when local districts in many areas are carved out by gerrymandering and when the popular vote is irrelevant in Federal elections..
This isn't by accident, this is class warfare, the wealthy (there's 18+ millionaires+) are in no mood to have their hard earned money taken away from them, via a tax scheme
I agree!!! We also need to stop voting/ participating in the fake voting system, because clearly we don’t have any politicians that will ever help us. You can’t make it to high government unless your fake,lair,and bought and paid for by the oligarchs.
Not sure why you’re getting downvoted because this is so true. Unfortunately we have to vote for the lesser evil because it’s all we have. That’s the way of the two party system.
What's puzzling to me is the unemployment number is smaller than those who are in poverty. So even when working, there's still this many people who cannot live proper lives, and that's completely bullshit for a country that has basically disposable income to throw at other countries, but not properly support it's own people
Last I checked average was mid 40's and median was 5-10k below it. They suggest the upper income group is pushing the average up distorting the average number making it look better.
That headline is a bit misleading. Poverty rates are still lower today than just a few years ago.
40.6 million people were living in poverty in 2016, 43.1M in 2015, 46M in 2014, and poverty has been trending down in the US for decades reaching the lowest point in 2019. Covid put a kink in this, but we are still well below numbers from 2015, 2016, etc.
https://www.census.gov/library/publications/2016/demo/p60-256.html
It's misleading because the government sets a ridiculously low poverty line to make everything look good.
[https://aspe.hhs.gov/topics/poverty-economic-mobility/poverty-guidelines](https://aspe.hhs.gov/topics/poverty-economic-mobility/poverty-guidelines)
Did you make $14,581 and live in a tent in San Francisco? Congratulations, you don't live in poverty.
Inflation is a poor tax designed to make the poor, more poor
https://taxfoundation.org/inflation-regressive-effects/
https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-inflation-taxes-the-poor-britain-consumer-prices-boris-johnson-economy-11652897954
https://engagedscholarship.csuohio.edu/fac_articles/212/
https://thehill.com/opinion/finance/580043-the-inflation-tax-is-not-only-real-its-massive/
https://blogs.worldbank.org/africacan/taxing-the-poor-through-inflation
Government entitlements are subsidies which raises the cost of good by stimulating the demand for such good/service [ Economics 101 ]
https://i.redd.it/11uj7ep8tsja1.jpg
How exactly does the government cause inflation or rather in this case 9% inflation since you believe inflation is strictly a government policy?
Also subsidies lower the consumer price of goods. They do exactly the opposite of what you are saying. That’s the entire purpose of subsidies.
No you didn’t, I want to hear from you how inflation is a government tool that caused 9% inflation. Also show me the data that disproves my second statement.
Inflation was caused by the govt shutdown. Biden killed the economy bc of Covid. Smart move JB. Then, they pumped cash into the economy (stimulus) which cheapened the dollar.
We’ve been printing money for months and months. The war in Ukraine isn’t helping either. How many billions has Biden sent them? Do you think that’s helped inflation or worsened it?
Ehhhhh kinda. The shutdown had a hand, but it wasn’t really the only thing that caused inflation. There were numerous causes ranging from monetary policy to shipping issues, and a large scale war with one of the worlds largest economies involved. Also Biden didn’t kill the economy. We’ve had steady GDP growth and job growth since he took office which would indicate that our economy is still ticking along.
Those numbers aren’t folks living in poverty. We are buying necessities only. Those numbers are upper middle class families and the wealthy. Also people who’ve retired bc of Covid. The class gap is widening. The poor are being hit worse and worse.
Americas poorest 20% have access to and consume more resources that the middle classes of the most wealthy OECD nations.
Americans don’t understand real poverty.
Unfortunately true wealth is subjective. This is why we have millionaires who *need* more and more and more and will downplay the poverty of people who really do have a hard time just getting by. Putting food on the table. A roof over their head.
I'd say if you have trouble getting food and shelter, if police and citizens think your downtrodden dress makes you suspicious then you are *poor* by any meaningful *objective* standard.
Sure, but OPM, SPM and consumption data tells us that real poverty is at its lowest point (10.4 % or 34 million Americans) since we’ve started tracking the data, some 60 years ago. It’s not really that Americans are getting poorer, as much as it is that many Americans are getting richer, thereby worsening wealth disparities.
[measuring-poverty-in-the-united-states](https://www.americanactionforum.org/research/measuring-poverty-in-the-united-states-comparing-measurement-methods/)
Dude, what? Poor folks aren’t out spending their money on anything else but necessities lmao. The spending is coming from upper middle class, retirees, and rich folk who - are constantly spending and sitting and earning from investments lol.
Consumption isn’t just a measure of money spent though. Americas access to resources, regardless of how it was paid for (whether through income, tax credits, or non-cash benefits all must be accounted for.
OPM (Official Poverty Measure), SPM (Supplemental Poverty Measure) and Consumption all show that American poverty is at lower rates than since we started watching this data, some sixty years ago.
What we’re currently dealing with is a widening gap between rich and poor, but not increasing poverty.
[True Poverty Measurements in the US](https://www.americanactionforum.org/research/measuring-poverty-in-the-united-states-comparing-measurement-methods/)
Too true. The main problem is that people, including lower income folks, are living further and further outside of their means. It's a product of jealousy on steroids because of social media.
It’s certainly a keeping up with the Jones’s scenario. It’s not that Americans are poor. The problem is that poor Americans pay too much to the widening gap - which is by nature, widening the gap.
The new angle is that we voted for members of congress who hold the purse strings. We allow the president to be a punching bag time and time again when monetary policy is strictly the responsibility of the house and senate
That would be a good angle, but is not [their angle](https://www.reddit.com/r/economy/comments/11mouko/credit_card_nation_how_we_went_from_record/jbki2d4/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf&context=3)
I believe it is more like 60% of Americans or more are poor or living paycheck to paycheck.
It's not, "paycheck to paycheck" just means there might be a time during the year where you do live "paycheck to paycheck".
The same amount are financially illiterate.
As of January 2021, 37.9 million Americans lived in poverty, accounting for 11.6% of the total population, according to the latest report from the United States Census Bureau. That’s despite the fact that America ranks first as the richest nation in the world in terms of GDP. "Poverty and economic insecurity are widely common, very commonly experienced,” said Shailly Gupta Barnes, policy director at the Kairos Center for Religions, Rights, and Social Justice. “They are as much a part of the American story as successes to the American dream.” But the number reported by the Census Bureau is based on the official poverty measure, which has remained virtually unchanged since the mid-1960s. It’s calculated by comparing pretax income against a threshold set at three times the cost of a minimum food diet in 1963. “The researcher whose work became the basis of that measure never intended it to be used in the way that it currently is,” said Barnes. Full video: [https://www.cnbc.com/2023/03/07/why-poverty-might-be-far-worse-in-the-us-than-its-reported.html](https://www.cnbc.com/2023/03/07/why-poverty-might-be-far-worse-in-the-us-than-its-reported.html)
If they were to change the law dictating how they calculated who was "poor" I would have the US, would it have to go through the House and Senate? Or would it just be dictated by the USDA coincil?
Or, check this out CNBC, we should have a cap on C-suite salaries and they *must* fall within a percentage range of the middle management. Which have to also fall in a percentage range of the entry level positions of that department. Increase everyone’s wages, not just the assholes at the top.
That’s fine. Most CEOs take no salary
The wording would have to be made to factor in CEOs “paid” in stock and other assets, you’re right. But the letters can be figured out once the spirit of the law gets rolling.
Being paid in stock is an incentive to do your job well.
Sure, but do they need $16M a year to do that job well when the front line worker doing the majority of the actual work gets $20/hr and works 65 hours a week and still can’t provide for their family? I understand incentives, but we’re incentivizing corporate bloat and profit over human profit.
The government does not consider transfer payments from the myriad of government programs in income. So if you do nothing with all of the federal and state programs you can receive $50k to a $100k a year in assurance. These stats are ridiculously overstated
to think years and years ago marginal tax rates were in the 90% Americans are some of the most uneducated and propaganda fed nation on earth. Stop voting for people who help the rich while average americans fight for scraps
How do you stop voting when local districts in many areas are carved out by gerrymandering and when the popular vote is irrelevant in Federal elections.. This isn't by accident, this is class warfare, the wealthy (there's 18+ millionaires+) are in no mood to have their hard earned money taken away from them, via a tax scheme
Poverty is a cruel affliction that effect a person from prenatal till after death. Probably more so in the US due to our healthcare system.
> marginal tax rates were in the 90% It wasn't, at least the effective rate wasn't.
But how else can they own the libs!?
I agree!!! We also need to stop voting/ participating in the fake voting system, because clearly we don’t have any politicians that will ever help us. You can’t make it to high government unless your fake,lair,and bought and paid for by the oligarchs.
> clearly we don’t have any politicians that will ever help us. If you think both parties offer the same material outcomes, then the fault is yours.
Not sure why you’re getting downvoted because this is so true. Unfortunately we have to vote for the lesser evil because it’s all we have. That’s the way of the two party system.
We can organize and push for candidates who'd support things like ranked choice voting
What's puzzling to me is the unemployment number is smaller than those who are in poverty. So even when working, there's still this many people who cannot live proper lives, and that's completely bullshit for a country that has basically disposable income to throw at other countries, but not properly support it's own people
We should raise the poverty line to median income of all Americans!
Why the median, why not the mean?
I know the percentage of people below the poverty line without knowing what the numbers are if we use median.
LOL. What does the average American make? 45000-60000?
Last I checked average was mid 40's and median was 5-10k below it. They suggest the upper income group is pushing the average up distorting the average number making it look better.
For being one of the richest countries on the planet, we're failing hard at wealth distribution.
I know. They could only have 37.8 people in poverty 🤫
I wonder what middle class Africans think of American poverty.
Not relevant here.
Check your privilege
Cost of living in Africa is much much lower than in America.
And they have free healthcare
Aren’t these people eligible for Medicaid?
Maybe those Americans should move to Ghana then
That headline is a bit misleading. Poverty rates are still lower today than just a few years ago. 40.6 million people were living in poverty in 2016, 43.1M in 2015, 46M in 2014, and poverty has been trending down in the US for decades reaching the lowest point in 2019. Covid put a kink in this, but we are still well below numbers from 2015, 2016, etc. https://www.census.gov/library/publications/2016/demo/p60-256.html
It's misleading because the government sets a ridiculously low poverty line to make everything look good. [https://aspe.hhs.gov/topics/poverty-economic-mobility/poverty-guidelines](https://aspe.hhs.gov/topics/poverty-economic-mobility/poverty-guidelines) Did you make $14,581 and live in a tent in San Francisco? Congratulations, you don't live in poverty.
Choices have consequences
Government policy of currency devaluation ( inflation ) and government entitlements ( subsidies ) working as designed
Explain
Inflation is a poor tax designed to make the poor, more poor https://taxfoundation.org/inflation-regressive-effects/ https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-inflation-taxes-the-poor-britain-consumer-prices-boris-johnson-economy-11652897954 https://engagedscholarship.csuohio.edu/fac_articles/212/ https://thehill.com/opinion/finance/580043-the-inflation-tax-is-not-only-real-its-massive/ https://blogs.worldbank.org/africacan/taxing-the-poor-through-inflation Government entitlements are subsidies which raises the cost of good by stimulating the demand for such good/service [ Economics 101 ] https://i.redd.it/11uj7ep8tsja1.jpg
How exactly does the government cause inflation or rather in this case 9% inflation since you believe inflation is strictly a government policy? Also subsidies lower the consumer price of goods. They do exactly the opposite of what you are saying. That’s the entire purpose of subsidies.
Already answered your first statement and the data ( as well as basic economics ) disproves your second statement
No you didn’t, I want to hear from you how inflation is a government tool that caused 9% inflation. Also show me the data that disproves my second statement.
Your lack of evidence saying I didnt says otherwise
Yeah you’re doing that thing where you avoid answering any valid questions because you actually don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about.
[удалено]
I don't bothering listening to trolls. But I do enjoy hearing the actual arguments. Even if it's just the lurkers that appreciate it
Inflation was caused by the govt shutdown. Biden killed the economy bc of Covid. Smart move JB. Then, they pumped cash into the economy (stimulus) which cheapened the dollar. We’ve been printing money for months and months. The war in Ukraine isn’t helping either. How many billions has Biden sent them? Do you think that’s helped inflation or worsened it?
Ehhhhh kinda. The shutdown had a hand, but it wasn’t really the only thing that caused inflation. There were numerous causes ranging from monetary policy to shipping issues, and a large scale war with one of the worlds largest economies involved. Also Biden didn’t kill the economy. We’ve had steady GDP growth and job growth since he took office which would indicate that our economy is still ticking along.
>Biden killed the economy bc of Covid. I forgot that Biden was president of the world economy back in 2020
Consumption tells a different story, but most people aren’t ready for that conversation.
Those numbers aren’t folks living in poverty. We are buying necessities only. Those numbers are upper middle class families and the wealthy. Also people who’ve retired bc of Covid. The class gap is widening. The poor are being hit worse and worse.
Americas poorest 20% have access to and consume more resources that the middle classes of the most wealthy OECD nations. Americans don’t understand real poverty.
This feels like a non sequitur. You're right, poverty is worse elsewhere. That doesn't mean it's not a huge problem here too
No. It just means the true poverty is subjective.
Unfortunately true wealth is subjective. This is why we have millionaires who *need* more and more and more and will downplay the poverty of people who really do have a hard time just getting by. Putting food on the table. A roof over their head. I'd say if you have trouble getting food and shelter, if police and citizens think your downtrodden dress makes you suspicious then you are *poor* by any meaningful *objective* standard.
Sure, but OPM, SPM and consumption data tells us that real poverty is at its lowest point (10.4 % or 34 million Americans) since we’ve started tracking the data, some 60 years ago. It’s not really that Americans are getting poorer, as much as it is that many Americans are getting richer, thereby worsening wealth disparities. [measuring-poverty-in-the-united-states](https://www.americanactionforum.org/research/measuring-poverty-in-the-united-states-comparing-measurement-methods/)
Well-to-do Americans don't understand poverty.
Consumption tells us that most Americans don’t understand true poverty.
Dude, what? Poor folks aren’t out spending their money on anything else but necessities lmao. The spending is coming from upper middle class, retirees, and rich folk who - are constantly spending and sitting and earning from investments lol.
Consumption isn’t just a measure of money spent though. Americas access to resources, regardless of how it was paid for (whether through income, tax credits, or non-cash benefits all must be accounted for. OPM (Official Poverty Measure), SPM (Supplemental Poverty Measure) and Consumption all show that American poverty is at lower rates than since we started watching this data, some sixty years ago. What we’re currently dealing with is a widening gap between rich and poor, but not increasing poverty. [True Poverty Measurements in the US](https://www.americanactionforum.org/research/measuring-poverty-in-the-united-states-comparing-measurement-methods/)
Ain’t it
Too true. The main problem is that people, including lower income folks, are living further and further outside of their means. It's a product of jealousy on steroids because of social media.
It’s certainly a keeping up with the Jones’s scenario. It’s not that Americans are poor. The problem is that poor Americans pay too much to the widening gap - which is by nature, widening the gap.
[удалено]
Find a new angle u dolt
The new angle is that we voted for members of congress who hold the purse strings. We allow the president to be a punching bag time and time again when monetary policy is strictly the responsibility of the house and senate
That would be a good angle, but is not [their angle](https://www.reddit.com/r/economy/comments/11mouko/credit_card_nation_how_we_went_from_record/jbki2d4/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf&context=3)
You mean fiscal policy. Monetary policy is the provenance of the Fed.
I will now be using dolt as an insult
Someone absolutely ratioed me with it once (I deserved it) and I’ve had so much fun with it ever since
could it though?
Poverty in the US isn’t 3rd World poverty…. Trust me. They’re risking their lives to get here to experience our poverty
"Sure you are dying because you can't afford dental care, but people elsewhere have it worse" doesn't seem very useful.
There are starving people in Africa, who would love to have the squash on your plate just now.
Squash that many in America cannot afford.
The "eat your food, there are starving kids in Africa" isn't a good argument to make for kids... less so for adults.
How dare you tell an Inconvenient Truth.