With the massive shift of wealth in the USA to the top 2% the bottom 50% now share only 2.5% of total wealth. Those at the bottom 25% (half of the bottom 50%) are basically destitute. More Americans need food-stamps now just to survive than just about any time in our history.
Yet, no politician running for President mentions any of this. It is not a "plank" on any major (or minor) political parties agenda. None of the self proclaimed religious candidates mention poverty. It is a dirty big secret that we do not talk about in public.
In fact, with nearly all attention being focused on cutting spending, only social spending not military spending, poverty is certainly going to increase even more.
Why are these facts not an extreme embarrassment to the USA?
How has poverty changed over time?
In the late 1950s, the poverty rate for all Americans was 22.4 percent, or 39.5 million individuals. These numbers declined steadily throughout the 1960s, reaching a low of 11.1 percent, or 22.9 million individuals, in 1973. Over the next decade,
the poverty rate fluctuated between 11.1 and 12.6 percent, but it began to rise steadily again in 1980. By 1983, the number of poor individuals had risen to 35.3 million individuals, or 15.2 percent.
For the next ten years, the poverty rate remained above 12.8 percent, increasing to 15.1 percent, or 39.3 million individuals, by 1993. The rate declined for the remainder of the decade, to 11.3 percent by 2000. From 2000 to 2004 it rose each year to 12.7 in 2004.
Hunger in America
In 2008, 17 million households, 14.6 percent of households (approximately one in seven), were food insecure, the highest number ever recorded in the United States. Four million households became food insecure in 2008, the largest increase ever recorded (p. iii, USDA 2008). (To get population figures from family size figures, multiply family size numbers by 2.58, the average family size.)
Study: 1 in 5 American children lives in poverty
Researchers find 14.7 million children were poor in 2009, 2.5 million more than in 2000
Recession Raises Poverty Rate to a 15-Year High
Published: September 16, 2010
The percentage of Americans struggling below the poverty line in 2009 was the highest it has been in 15 years, the Census Bureau reported Thursday, and interviews with poverty experts and aid groups said the increase appeared to be continuing this year.
Census Bureau says 15.7 percent in poverty
WASHINGTON, Jan. 6,2011 (UPI) -- Using an expanded definition of poverty, the U.S. Census Bureau said it determined that 15.7 percent of Americans -- 47.8 million -- live in poverty.
Some 43 Million Use Food Stamps
February 2, 2011
More than 14% of the population drew food stamps in November to purchase groceries as high unemployment and muted wage growth crimped budgets. The number of recipients was up 0.9% from October, according to the new report by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Compared to a year ago, the number of people receiving food stamps was up 14.2%.
In a country well governed, poverty is something to be ashamed of. In a country badly governed, wealth is something to be ashamed of. - Confucius
It is a tragic mix-up when the United States spends $500,000 for every enemy soldier killed, and only $53 annually on the victims of poverty. - Martin Luther King, Jr.
The mother of revolution and crime is poverty - Aristotle