The Myth of American Poverty

[renard_ruse]

Are there really any significant number of poor in the United States today? I mean by world standards.

I don't see shanty towns or cardboard box slums when I drive around.

Where are all these "poor people" in the USA?

 

[Sean Renaud]

Why would you compare Americans to the rest of the world?

 

[badbabysitter]

Are there really any significant number of poor in the United States today? I mean by world standards.

I don't see shanty towns or cardboard box slums when I drive around.

Where are all these "poor people" in the USA?

the US used to have plenty of shanty towns prior to FDR


now the US has a social safety net that prevents the squalid conditions of the poor in America previous to WW2


good thing conservatives are trying their best to get rid of it, right

 

[KRCummings]

the US used to have plenty of shanty towns prior to FDR


now the US has a social safety net that prevents the squalid conditions of the poor in America previous to WW2


good thing conservatives are trying their best to get rid of it, right

You've obviously never been to the backwoods south or the Dakotas.

 

[hummermania]

Why would you compare Americans to the rest of the world?

The whole world runs on comparisons.
In stocks, meals, people, politicians, countries.

Is GE better than Seimens?
Is Ford better than GM?
Is Cali wine better than Chilean wine?
Is UK beer better than German beer?
Is Veronica better than Betty?

So why not compare? We are all comparateurs.
It it because Americans are special and can't be compared?
What is the issue?
There will definately be an argument over a differenc of opinion no matter the result of the comparison.

 

[badbabysitter]

You've obviously never been to the backwoods south or the Dakotas.

true enough... but look in comparison to the Depression when there was a shanty town smack dab right in the middle of Central Park in New York

 

[blobfish]

You've obviously never been to the backwoods south or the Dakotas.

Or Appalachia. My mother's side of my family is from West Virginia, and many of them literally live in tarpaper shacks. I've never had a chance to visit, but from the stories I've heard, the towns there look like the third world.

 

[eyer]

2012 Poverty Guidelines
for the
48 Contiguous States and the District of Columbia

Persons in
family/household.....Poverty guideline

1....$11,170
2......15,130
3......19,090
4.......23,050
5.......27,010
6.......30,970
7.......34,930
8.......38,890
For families/households with more than 8 persons,
add $3,960 for each additional person.


2012 Poverty Guidelines
for
Alaska

Persons in
family/household.....Poverty guideline

1....$13,970
2......18,920
3......23,870
4......28,820
5......33,770
6......38,720
7......43,670
8......48,620
For families/households with more than 8 persons,
add $4,950 for each additional person.


2012 Poverty Guidelines
for
Hawaii

Persons in
family/household.....Poverty guideline

1....$12,860
2......17,410
3......21,960
4......26,510
5......31,060
6......35,610
7......40,160
8......44,710
For families/households with more than 8 persons,
add $4,550 for each additional person.

http://aspe.hhs.gov/poverty/12poverty.shtml

 

[Tryharder62]

I think there are definately poor people but I also think people say they are poor but have no clue. I had a relative say they were poor with a 2 cars, a house, both working simply because they could not get cable tv. They got cable tv anyway racked up a huge debt with a bunch of things people don't really need and declared bankrupcy twice. Also smoking 2 cartons of $54.00 a carton cigarettes a week, eating out. I could go on but it makes me sick.

 

[Noor]

I have seen a lot of poverty in Appalachia, Pa, WVA, Northern VT, New Hampshire, Maine, Pine Barrens of New Jersey, parts of California, rural Florida, Georgia...

 

[blobfish]

Upstate New York is very poor as well.

 

[thør]

Or Appalachia. My mother's side of my family is from West Virginia, and many of them literally live in tarpaper shacks. I've never had a chance to visit, but from the stories I've heard, the towns there look like the third world.

Tarpaper can make a damn fine shack......Celotex is a notch up.

 

[fuckwaffle]

• The typical “poor” household in America has a car
• 78% of “poor” households in America have air conditioning
• 64% of “poor” households in America have cable or satellite TV .. most have two TVs, along with a DVD player and VCR
• Most “poor” households in America with children have a gaming system such as an Xbox or PlayStation
• 38% of “poor” households in America have a personal computer
• Most “poor” households in America have a refrigerator, an oven and stove, and a microwave. They also have other household appliances such as a clothes washer, clothes dryer, ceiling fans, a cordless phone, and a coffee maker.
• The typical “poor” American has more living space than the average European.
• The typical “poor” American family is able to obtain medical care when needed.

http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2011/07/what-is-poverty

 

[badbabysitter]

the key word being " household"

that very awesome graph does nothing to show singles


good thing there are no poor single people in the US, or single parents


because, wow... that would make that entire graph completely meaningless

 

[bra_man69]

Adults are poor from the choices they made life sucks deal with it.

 

[badbabysitter]

Adults are poor from the choices they made life sucks deal with it.

especially the mentally ill... they chose to be schizophrenic

 

[fuckwaffle]

the key word being " household"

that very awesome graph does nothing to show singles


good thing there are no poor single people in the US, or single parents


because, wow... that would make that entire graph completely meaningless

I'm sure all those single people out there will glad that they aren't considered a household. And a single parent and children will also be glad that they aren't a household. According to you.

 

[bra_man69]

especially the mentally ill... they chose to be schizophrenic

Where is there family at
why does everyone need be a fucking victim.

 

[fuckwaffle]

 

[garbage can]

Are there really any significant number of poor in the United States today? I mean by world standards.

I don't see shanty towns or cardboard box slums when I drive around.

Where are all these "poor people" in the USA?

Obama is doing his best to provide the poor with cell phones and broadband internet.

 

[badbabysitter]

I'm sure all those single people out there will glad that they aren't considered a household. And a single parent and children will also be glad that they aren't a household. According to you.

actually according to you


if you even read your link, you may have noticed the only qualifier for households made in that report as " families"


families by definiton are not single people


then again, you did link heritage

 

[badbabysitter]

Where is there family at
why does everyone need be a fucking victim.

as someone who often works with the mentall y ill... often, their family has given up on them or does not even they are alive

 

[fuckwaffle]

actually according to you


if you even read your link, you may have noticed the only qualifier for households made in that report as " families"


families by definiton are not single people


then again, you did link heritage

Where does it say that a single parent and a[ny] child[ren] aren't a family?

I bet the widower and his three kids will be glad to hear that.

fam·i·ly   [fam-uh-lee, fam-lee] Show IPA noun, plural fam·i·lies, adjective
noun
1.
a. a basic social unit consisting of parents and their children, considered as a group, whether dwelling together or not: the traditional family.
b. a social unit consisting of one or more adults together with the children they care for: a single-parent family.

 

[bra_man69]

Obama is doing his best to provide the poor with cell phones and broadband internet.

How you like paying that tax on you cell phone bill

 

[badbabysitter]

Where does it say that a single parent and a[ny] child[ren] aren't a family?

I bet the widower and his three kids will be glad to hear that.

it at no point mentions single parents, widows, singles living on their own, the chronically ill, or the mentally ill as any qualifier


it only mentions " families" and at no point makes any attempt to define that


that simple omission makes the entire study non-credible


I spend my days arguing with local and provincial governments that are as equally as vague in ther reports in order to further thier own agendas


it's not legitmate then, it's not legitmate now