[lit-ideas] Deep Poverty at Record Levels, Where's That?

From: "John McCreery" <john.mccreery@xxxxxxxxx>
To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Sun, 25 Feb 2007 16:49:59 +0900

A great country, isn't it?

^^^^^^^^

In US, record numbers are plunged into poverty: report
AFP
Published: Saturday February 24, 2007   


The gulf between rich and poor in the United States is yawning wider
than ever, and the number of extremely impoverished is at a
three-decade high, a report out Saturday found.

Based on the latest available US census data from 2005, the McClatchy
Newspapers analysis found that almost 16 million Americans live in
"deep or severe poverty" defined as a family of four with two children
earning less than 9,903 dollars -- one half the federal poverty line
figure.

For individuals the "deep poverty" threshold was an income under 5,080
dollars a year.

"The McClatchy analysis found that the number of severely poor
Americans grew by 26 percent from 2000 to 2005," the US newspaper
chain reported.

"That's 56 percent faster than the overall poverty population grew in
the same period," it noted.

The surge in poverty comes alongside an unusual economic expansion.

"Worker productivity has increased dramatically since the brief
recession of 2001, but wages and job growth have lagged behind. At the
same time, the share of national income going to corporate profits has
dwarfed the amount going to wages and salaries," the study found.

"That helps explain why the median household income for working-age
families, adjusted for inflation, has fallen for five straight years.

^^^^^^^^^^

Rising productivity used to mean more to go around. Now it means
workers screwed again.


--
John McCreery
The Word Works, Ltd., Yokohama, JAPAN
Tel. +81-45-314-9324
http://www.wordworks.jp/
------------------------------------------------------------------
To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off,
digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html

Follow-Ups:
- [lit-ideas] Re: Deep Poverty at Record Levels, Where's That?
  - From: Lawrence Helm

[lit-ideas] Deep Poverty at Record Levels, Where's That?

Other related posts: