Where poverty is rising in America...

[cynatnite]

Thanks to the recession, 2009 was one of the worst years for poverty in America in more than half a century. The total number of Americans living in poverty hit 43.6 million, the highest level in 51 years and the national poverty rate rose to 14.3 percent from 13.2 percent, according to data released last month by the Census Bureau.

All told, one in seven Americans are living in poverty. To visualize America's startling rise in poverty, Mint, the personal finance site, put together this interactive chart of regional poverty rates.

Among the hardest-hit states are Louisiana, Mississippi and certain areas of Texas. States with the lowest poverty statistics include Wyoming, Hawaii, Minnesota and several East Coast states.

http://news.yahoo.com/s//huffpost/20101019/cm_huffpost/767734_201010190954/

[whoneedstickets]

1. It is amazing the degree to which that map correlates with the Red state map

With the exception of New Mexico?

[cynatnite]

2. Excellent comparison...thanks. n/t

[nadinbrzezinski]

4. And indentured slavery back in the colonial period

Yes, it is connected.

[Kalyke]

9. So why don't the Democrats in the Northern states

come down here to help?

Seriously, we Southern Democrats need some reinforcements. We have to go up against an even more conservative local media than most of the national ones. Our radio stations only play conservative talk shows and the DJs on the rock stations even blast Democrats. We have no union help. No money and no recourse.

Yet, you Northerners sit up there and merely call us "stupid" or "illogical."

In any given Southern state, anywhere from 40 to 48 percent of us vote Democratic - that's quite a few of us who aren't "stupid" or "illogical," - we just need YOUR help to convince another 2 to 10 percent of our brethren that they are voting against their own pocketbooks, against their own children's futures when they vote for the current likes of the Republican Party.

So... when can I expect you down here to help canvass for Democrats?

[iscooterliberally]

3. Hey, I think I can see my house!

I'm 10-15% poorer than I used to be.

[Bobbieo]

5. Many of the black spots will be on Indian Reservations.

[iscooterliberally]

8. That's what I though of when I was looking at the Dakotas. n/t

[Greyhound]

6. K&R

[jtuck004]

7. NPR did a segment on poverty today - some interesting data

The word culture was panned years ago when talking about the causes of poverty, because people
saw it as "blaming the victim". With a broader definition and a greater understanding of how
the structures that surround people play a part, some social scientists are taking another look.
An article by Patricia Cohen in the NY Times talks about the subject.

But the most interesting part was when Sudhir Venkatesh, a professor at Columbia University mentioned
that while urban poverty is decreasing, it is being replaced by poverty in rural and suburban areas,
reproduced by economic enterprises in the new and fastest growing jobs that don't pay a living wage,
such as in health care, the service sector, and entertainment.

It wasn't mentioned in the piece, but you can see that job growth in the monthly BLS statistics. While
a seriously inadequate 50-60,000 jobs a month are being created (we need 125,000 just to stay even,
which won't cut unemployment at all), a good many of those jobs are in those lower paying fields,
which are going to lead to a slow death of our economy. It's interesting to look at the map above
while keeping that in mind.

You can listen to the program at

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130701401