Poverty, A Lost Decade and The Shame of America

[marmar]

from the Working Life blog:




Poverty, A Lost Decade and The Shame of America
by Jonathan Tasini

Friday 11 of September, 2009


We don't talk about poverty in our country. Our political discourse, guided by pollsters and consultants, directs leaders to refer to "the middle-class", not to the millions of people who live in conditions that do not get much better, whether we are in something called a "recession" or we are in "recovery". And it is getting worse.

According to the Census Bureau, poverty is on the rise:

In the recession, the nation’s poverty rate climbed to 13.2 percent last year, up from 12.5 percent in 2007, according to an annual report released Thursday by the Census Bureau. The report also documented a decline in employer-provided health insurance and in coverage for adults.

Almost 40 million Americans--FORTY MILLION--live below the poverty line, which is defined as an income for a family of four of just $22,025.

I said, from the outset, that for those living in poverty, the boom-and-bust economic cycles are pretty irrelevant--their lives just get worse no matter what. It is true that the current economic calamity has made things much worse. But, it only heightens the crisis. ............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.workinglife.org/blogs/view_post.php?content_id=14483