Points to take away from the latest Census Bureau report:
- poverty level highest since 1993
- another 2.6 million people slipped into poverty in 2010
- a total of 46.2 million people are in poverty in the US (15.1% of the country)
- highest number in the 52 years that the Census Bureau has been tracking poverty
- for a family of 4 the poverty line was at $22,113 in 2010 (that's about $5k per person per year!)
- in 2010 the middle class median household income declined by 2.3% (to $49,400) as compared to 2009
- middle class income is now 7% less then it was in 1999 (when it was $53,252)
- we are well below where incomes were in the late 1990s
- median annual income for a full-time male worker in 2010 ($47,715) was less then it was in 1973 ($49,065) when adjusted for inflation
- young household members were affected the most
- for ages 15-24 the median income dropped 9%
- 45.3% of people ages 25-34 are living in poverty
- increasing numbers of Americans are doubling up in households with their friends and relatives; this is especially true for ages 25-34
- those without college degrees have been hit particularly hard
[This information is current as of September 2011]
Conclusions:
- rapidly growing and expanding lower class
- just as rapidly shrinking middle class
- the rich get richer (aka Congress)
- we are not out of the woods yet
- you can forget about economic recovery as its not happening any time soon
- young less educated adult males are not able to support their children or form families because they are jobless
- crime has been on the rise across the nation
- let's face it - no one has any idea how to fix the economy or this country's deficit - and even if they did there are plenty of people at the top that would not let this happen
Anybody else have any illusions about an economic recovery???
[read the full report at The New York Times]
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