From the president to Congress to nearly every neighborhood in America, the focus today is on job creation. But for millions of Americans, just having a job doesn’t mean prosperity or anything like it.
Nearly one in six Americans lived in poverty in 2010, according to data released today by the Census Bureau. That’s 46.2 million people, the highest number ever recorded in the 52 years that poverty estimates have been calculated.
The rise in poverty may be attributable in part to the nation’s persistently high unemployment rate. “We have an increase in the number of people who did not work at all last year,” said Trudi Renwick, chief of the poverty statistics branch of the Census Bureau. “That might be the single most important factor” behind the higher poverty rate, she said.
But working people are also struggling, as data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics reveal.
“When you have this type of labor market weakness, you’ve got a reinforcing effect on the working poor," said James Borbely, an economist with the Bureau of Labor Statistics. "Even people just above that would be affected. The middle class certainly hasn’t been without its hardships," he said. "People are just getting by. And I’d say the working poor are barely getting by."
1 comment:
This has always been a sure way to a socialist government. Obama has done a great job in this respect.
Any change to the poor that is positive will give him credits. Even if the change is very small and can only come from the tax payers. Most of these people don't even understand , he has changed their beliefs on religion , this alone will create the atmosphere that he desires. Sadly as seems , the people that worship him are the hardline criminals and people that have lived off the the goverment for generations. Most of these people have been converted to muslim religion or don't have any religious beliefs. This in effect ,will lower the moral values and increase crime.
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