America's poor

[h2co-pilot]

Rush got me all riled up this afternoon. He was referencing this paper; it is pretty enlightening:

August 27, 2007
How Poor Are America's Poor? Examining the "Plague" of Poverty in America
by Robert E. Rector


Poverty is an important and emotional issue. Last year, the Census Bureau released its annual report on poverty in the United States declaring that there were 37 million poor persons living in this country in 2005, roughly the same number as in the preceding years. According to the Census report, 12.6 percent of Americans were poor in 2005; this number has varied from 11.3 percent to 15.1 percent of the population over the past 20 years.

To understand poverty in America, it is important to look behind these numbers—to look at the actual living conditions of the individuals the government deems to be poor. For most Americans, the word "poverty" suggests destitution: an inability to provide a family with nutritious food, clothing, and reasonable shelter. But only a small number of the 37 million persons classified as "poor" by the Census Bureau fit that description. While real material hardship certainly does occur, it is limited in scope and severity. Most of America's "poor" live in material conditions that would be judged as comfortable or well-off just a few generations ago. Today, the expenditures per person of the lowest-income one-fifth (or quintile) of households equal those of the median American household in the early 1970s, after adjusting for inflation.


The following are facts about persons defined as "poor" by the Census Bureau, taken from various government reports:

• Forty-three percent of all poor households actu­ally own their own homes. The average home owned by persons classified as poor by the Census Bureau is a three-bedroom house with one-and-a-half baths, a garage, and a porch or patio.

• Eighty percent of poor households have air conditioning. By contrast, in 1970, only 36 percent of the entire U.S. population enjoyed air conditioning.

• Only 6 percent of poor households are over­crowded. More than two-thirds have more than two rooms per person.

• The average poor American has more living space than the average individual living in Paris, London, Vienna, Athens, and other cities throughout Europe. (These comparisons are to the average citizens in foreign countries, not to those classified as poor.)

• Nearly three-quarters of poor households own a car; 31 percent own two or more cars.

• Ninety-seven percent of poor households have a color television; over half own two or more color televisions.

• Seventy-eight percent have a VCR or DVD player; 62 percent have cable or satellite TV reception.

• Eighty-nine percent own microwave ovens, more than half have a stereo, and more than a third have an automatic dishwasher.

As a group, America's poor are far from being chronically undernourished. The average consump­tion of protein, vitamins, and minerals is virtually the same for poor and middle-class children and, in most cases, is well above recommended norms. Poor children actually consume more meat than do higher-income children and have average protein intakes 100 percent above recommended levels. Most poor children today are, in fact, supernour­ished and grow up to be, on average, one inch taller and 10 pounds heavier than the GIs who stormed the beaches of Normandy in World War II.

In good economic times or bad, the typical poor family with children is supported by only 800 hours of work during a year: That amounts to 16 hours of work per week. If work in each family were raised to 2,000 hours per year—the equivalent of one adult working 40 hours per week throughout the year— nearly 75 percent of poor children would be lifted out of official poverty.

cont... http://www.heritage.org/Research/Welfare/bg2064.cfm
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It goes on and on. So could I .....

[H2wifey]

WOW, I never knew that.

[H2wifey]

Originally Posted by Steve - SanJose

Poor in the US often = fat.

[CO Hummer]

So what's new.

Americans are idiots. All of what is printed is true, yet nobody gives a crap. It's astounding.

[KenP]

Listening to that on the radio today really pissed me off.

Time to rejoin the Heritage Foundation.

[DRTYFN]

Originally Posted by h2co-pilot

...and a porch.....

And who might be sitting on those porches?

[h2co-pilot]

DOn't get me wrong, I think it is great that our "poor" live better than most in the world. I just don't like being told that it is worse than it really is by a certain party/parties/leaders.

[ChiHummer3]

Originally Posted by h2co-pilot

I just don't like being told that it is worse than it really is by a certain party/parties/leaders.

[Adam in CO]

Guess we are poor. Cool. Time to go get on welfare and food stamps.

[h2co-pilot]

Well, first you'll have to get divorced since marriage is not favored in the welfare system and then you'll have to cut your hours and ambition to work. Also it would certainly help if you pushed out more kids once you get started.