Damn!
Census shows 1 in 2 people are poor or low-income
WASHINGTON (AP) — Squeezed by rising living costs, a record number of Americans — nearly 1 in 2 — have fallen into poverty or are scraping by on earnings that classify them as low income.
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The new measure of poverty takes into account medical, commuting and other living costs. Doing that helped push the number of people below 200 percent of the poverty level up from 104 million, or 1 in 3 Americans, that was officially reported in September.
Broken down by age, children were most likely to be poor or low-income — about 57 percent — followed by seniors over 65. By race and ethnicity, Hispanics topped the list at 73 percent, followed by blacks, Asians and non-Hispanic whites.
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Many middle-class Americans are dropping below the low-income threshold — roughly $45,000 for a family of four — because of pay cuts, a forced reduction of work hours or a spouse losing a job. Housing and child-care costs are consuming up to half of a family's income.
Nearly half of Americans either live in poverty or are low income,...
About 97.3 million Americans fall into a low-income category, commonly defined as those earning between 100 and 199 percent of the poverty level, based on a new supplemental measure by the Census Bureau that is designed to provide a fuller picture of poverty
This is getting scarier.
Having been at the bottom most of my adult life, though not for the lack of trying or lack of ambition, I know the struggles. I use to blame it on bad luck, bad mates, but I now know much of it was rigged by Corporations and greed for decades as explained in the Shock Doctrine.
I grew up like many in a blue-collar lower middle-class and felt blessed. I'm not a dog-eat-dog person and have usually taken less so someone in more need has a bit more, probably due to being the oldest sister of eight siblings, but now I suppose I could turn to 'misery loves company'? Oh gosh. This is beyond depression..
These stats are stunning and what a sad mark/scar on America.
I don't know what else to say.