The Poor, the Near Poor and You

[tpsbmam]

The NY Times today has a very good editorial on poverty in the US. As they note, 100 million people in the US are poor or very close to it. That's 1/3 of us.

The Poor, the Near Poor and You

Some selections:

<snip>

As for all of that inspirational, up-by-their-bootstrap talk you hear on the Republican campaign trail, over half of the near poor in the new tally actually fell into that group from higher income levels as their resources were sapped by medical expenses, taxes, work-related costs and other unavoidable outlays.

<snip>

The rankings ignore the fact that many of these are requisites of modern life and that things increasingly out of reach for the poor and near poor — education, health care, child care, housing and utilities — are the true determinants of a good, upwardly mobile life.

Government surveys analyzed by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities indicate that in 2010, just over half of the country’s nearly 17 million poor children, lived in households that reported at least one of four major hardships: hunger, overcrowding, failure to pay the rent or mortgage on time or failure to seek needed medical care. A good education is also increasingly out of reach. A study by Martha Bailey, an economics professor at the University of Michigan, showed that the difference in college-graduation rates between the rich and poor has widened by more than 50 percent since the 1990s.

<snip>

There is also a growing out-of-sight-out-of-mind problem. A study, by Sean Reardon, a sociologist at Stanford, shows that Americans are increasingly living in areas that are either poor or affluent. The isolation of the prosperous, he said, threatens their support for public schools, parks, mass transit and other investments that benefit broader society.

I heartily recommend reading the whole thing.

[Vincardog]

1. The isolation of the prosperous, he said, threatens their support for public schools, parks, mass

transit and other investments that benefit broader GAWD luvs them and only them.
That is why the sky beard made them rich.

[baldguy]

2. If you're not part of the 1% then you are poor.

You have no rights; you have no political power; your property, possessions & life can be taken away at any time and for any reason - or no reason at all. If you don't like it, you can expect to be harassed, assaulted, fined & imprisoned. The Republicans want you to shut up & get used to it.

[Abin Sur]

3. It would certainly be fair to characterize where I live as affluent.

A study, by Sean Reardon, a sociologist at Stanford, shows that Americans are increasingly living in areas that are either poor or affluent. The isolation of the prosperous, he said, threatens their support for public schools, parks, mass transit and other investments that benefit broader society.

Why wouldn't I want to live in such an "isolated" area, given that I can afford it? :shrug:

[jwirr]

6. It is not where you live - the point of this statement is that when you

are isolated you do not know about the rest of the world. And if by any chance you are watching faux for information then you are even more isolated.

Many of the rich have educated themselves and do know what is wrong with our world but more and more are trying to put their heads in the sand.

[Abin Sur]

9. Where one lives *is* addressed by the statement.

"There is also a growing out-of-sight-out-of-mind problem. A study, by Sean Reardon, a sociologist at Stanford, shows that Americans are increasingly living in areas that are either poor or affluent."

There seems to be a concern that people are less likely to live in areas of "mixed" affluence today.

[jwirr]

10. And that is important. As a social worker I have watched the growing

separation of the generations as seen in Senior housing, etc. We have been isolating people for decades and it should not come as a shock that we do not understand each others needs.

[Abin Sur]

11. What solution(s) would you propose?

For example: I live in a fairly affluent mountain community west of Denver. Part of the reason I chose to live here is because of the level of wealth; it's a really nice town, and the violent crime rate is only 1/6th that of Denver. I'm not about to support any policies that would bring low-income housing to my neighborhood. I like it the way it is.

[jwirr]

13. I do not think we are going to ever get people to live where they do

not feel safe and wanted. In the senior housing issue it kind of solved itself when Section 8 housing was opened up to disabled persons as well and many of them had family living with them. But even so still way too much isolation.

As to the affluent areas vs the poor areas. Well there again you are not going to change that but what is missing is education. (I am LOL) but maybe we need cultural exchanges like Nixon and China. Sensitivity training type.

I am really not the one to answer how this can be solved as I live in an old fashioned rural community where it is not so much like that. I would be hard pressed to tell you which section of my small town is even the richest area. Other than areas for seniors and areas for low-income housing located in various parts of the community we have little problems.

[SammyWinstonJack]

4. Comments are full of 'it's the poor who are to blame for having too many children'.

:wtf: :banghead: :argh:

[ZenaD]

7. Made by ppl undoubtedly against funding Planned Parenthood

"You should keep your legs closed!" Also, poor ppl have refrigerators and TVs so they can't really be poor.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

8. The part about refrigerators and air conditioners and cell phones is especially stupid

Apartments are required by law to have refrigerators in most places. I have never bought a refrigerator in my life--it's always been supplied as part and parcel of the apartment.

About half the apartments I've lived in have had air conditioning, too. I've never bought an air conditioner, either.

You can get a cell phone for as little as $10 a month, which is cheaper than a landline.

[ZenaD]

12. And it's actually really expensive to be poor.

When you're poor you pay more for everything. Even the cell phone which can be gotten for cheap comes with restrictions on how many minutes you can use or you have to pre-pay. Whereas I pay about $100 bucks a month for an all-inclusive plan with unlimited everything. Something I couldn't afford on a monthly basis if I were struggling to make ends meet at a minimum wage job. There was a book called Poverty Inc. (I think?) that described the numerous ways poor people are bilked.

[lunatica]

5. The problem with poverty on national levels is that it's much easier to fall into it

than to climb out of it.

Countries that are prosperous have to actively working on it and it takes many generations. As we've seen in our own country it takes less than one generation to fall into near poverty and poverty. Add to that the generations that will be under-educated and you can see how high and how slow the climb back will be, if it ever happens.

This is the Republican legacy. It's what they're aiming for.

[me b zola]

14. Reason 5237 for joining Occupy:

"The poor do without and the near poor, at best, live from paycheck to paycheck. Most Americans don’t know what that is like, but unless the nation reverses direction, more are going to find out."

[xchrom]

15. Recommend