34.6 Million Americans Living In Poverty
 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp...nguage=printer

The page loads slow, cause it's a hot story, but 34 million in poverty?

Sounds a bit too much.

That's like 12%. What exactly is considered poverty?

No... sounds about right... our government spends too much on world affairs and not enough on it's own people.

thats crazy

yea lets pump a bunch of money into inefficient socalistic programs and make things tough on businesses so theres no jobs.

yeah, they're all living in poverty and driving around in cadillacs

The poverty line (threshold) in the USA is much, much higher than the rest of the world. In the USA, you are consider poor if you make under $21,667 a year. Growing up in Peru $800 a month was consider a good wage. US government programs only push you back up to the threshold. There are very, very few truly poor people in this country.

Everything has a different perspective. Poor people here would be considered wealthy in other places. Poor people here have TVs, Playstations, cars, etc.


http://www.census.gov/hhes/poverty/povdef.html

I live under poverty level also

How much do you make a year? Do you live with anyone else that contributes to your living, i.e. parent's home, etc.?

I'm sorry, I don't consider $21k poverty. If $21k is poverty, then I grew up in poverty. Haha, it may have been tight at times, but it certainly wasn't living in poverty.

Poverty is not covering your bills and having trouble eating.

That is how the government gauges poverty.

People... don't buy into the leftist dogma of the Washington Post without knowing all the facts. :)

Shush. ALL newspapers and media sources are propaganda machines for the administration.

according to my accountant I made only 25k last year.


Still trying to figure out how the hell i survived with monthly bills of

1000 mortgage
400 car note
500 child support

So according to the stats in poverty level. I am living in poverty :Graucho

when your country is rich, 21k looks poor. :1orglaugh

FINALLY somebody who sees the light of day!!!

$21,000 isn't considered poverty for one person, that was for a family of 5.

$9,359 is the poverty threshold for one person

Look: http://www.census.gov/hhes/poverty/t.../thresh02.html

When you grew up the cost of living was different than the cost of living at present time...

I am 38... 21,000 was not prverty when I was growing up... but it is now....

Mortgage - 1050.00 per month average rent (750.00)
100.00 per week groceries x 4 = 400.00 per month
Car pmt... one at 350 one at 450
car insurance 105 per vehicle
electric... average 150 per month
water 60.00 per month
Homerowner association dues 28.00 per month

Just this comes to.... 2548 per month just on the basics

30,576 per year. 2 people, no kids....

When you add the pet food in for 7 animals, cigs, and other misc expenses..

Tell me how a family with children making 21,000 per year is not poverty.

Did you even read your own link? That is for a family of <b>5</b>. For a single person without children and under 65, it's $9,359. Quite a difference.

Well, if you're single and making under $21k after living costs, health care alone you're fucking poor!

To live comfortably in the U.S. a single person in a metropolitan area has to bring home AFTER taxes $50k. That's giving that most decent apartments in a city are gonna be $2k a month easy. Add to that the other high end expenses of living in a city that's comfortable.

Here in LA you can get by on $40k after taxes IF you get a decent car without ridiculous payments. A decent apartment in a good neighborhood is gonna cost you around $2k. So that's $24k a year to have a place to live without gangsters and perverts on your front door.

Wait. $40k in LA is not nearly enough. Let's make that $60k AFTER taxes.

Generally speaking, I can't agree more.:thumbsup

It should say something more like: 34.6 million people live on less than $9,359 a year.

Yep... that's why I moved to arizona... better cost of living... but man do I miss the ocean :(

Anybody see anything wrong with that many people living under the poverty line?
I mean if you make $6/hr at a full time mcdonalds job youre already making $11,520. Maybe these people want to stay below poverty to collect welfare.:2 cents:

Very, very few people live by themselves. The normal household size is 3 plus people.

In the Bay Area the threshold for basic living wage is slightly over $51,000 a year because of the very high real estate and transportation costs.

During my dotcom days in the South Bay I made $90,000 a year yet didn't have two nickels to scrap together at the end of the month. Since I moved to Sacramento, I make half as much but still have money left over at the end of the month.

That would make the statistic even more sad since for a household of 3 people to be considered poor they would have to earn less than $14,072 all together, that's only $4,690 per person a year!

poverty is not being able to afford a toilet that cleans your ass

You're getting somewhat blinded by two things:

1. cost of living for the majority of the country is WAY under what you pay on the coasts. In small towns and suburbs in Iowa for example, you can buy a house for 15k or less. Not a great house, but with TV, phone, crappy old car.....you are STILL way above 80% of the worlds standard of living.

2. There is no telling WHAT the methodology of this statistic was. I studied statistics, and you can make the same set of facts say totally opposite things with statistics that are grouped and worded just the right way.

I really feel for those who have it rough. But I hate those assholes that I know are on wellfare, have cell phones, excursions and $15000 rims. Yea, lets pour money into those assholes. The US wellfare system needs to be revamped before any good can happen. No matter how much money you put into.

Dude, I'm fucking 20, not 38. I was living (with my 2 little brothers, one a baby at the time) on my moms income of $7.50 an hour just 5-7 years ago. What's $7.50 hourly a year? Around $15k, that's BEFORE taxes.

We didn't have a mortgage. We lived in a trailer. Didn't have two car payments which total $700 monthly. We had one car payment, which was between $100-200, I don't know the specifics. Electric was probably around $70 weekly. Food was around $75, my mom is the best bargain shopper I've ever seen.

We still had birthdays. Still had Christmas. Still had special treats every now and then.

Again, $21k is not poverty. I think some of you people really need to live without money to see how things really work. What a joke...

says you.

comfortable is not the same as poor. jobs pay more in metro areas.
No one's forcing you to live in the city. buses leave the city ever day. get on one.

if you have a decent car, you are not in poverty.
if you have a decent apartment in a good nieghborhood, you are not living in poverty.
So that's $24k a year to have a place to live without gangsters and perverts on your front door. [/B][/QUOTE] if that doesn't give you the drive to work harder, I guess nothing will.

whatever.

Difficult time "living nice" != poverty.

Down and Out
It can't be helped but there's a lot of it about
With, without
And who'll deny its what the fightings all about

Pink Floyd - Us And Them

:1orglaugh

Haters that talk about poverty.

80% of people around the world would love to live in America's version of poverty.

Quit being a baby and grow up.

Now thats poverty :helpme

I've realized very few people here can analyze economic data...

I'm done here.


(keep whining about poverty and not donating your money libs.... always good for laugh)

typical sense of self-entitlement. no one on this board wants to live in poverty, even America's version of it.

So, comments comparing poverty in the US to third-world countries makes no sense. Are you saying that poverty-stricken families in the US should not be helped simply because other countries have it worse?

With that reasoning rich people should not be helped (with tax breaks, government programs, set-asides, etc.) because they have it better than everyone. In fact, no one should be helped because everyone has it better than someone at some point.

The fact remains that poverty is not a good thing, for anyone. So, instead of whining about how good they have it, ask yourself this, would you want to live in poverty (the U. S. version)?

I don't think this is true at all, you must be used to a higher standard of living. I live in socal , and I know there's 2 bedrooms apts here for $900 ( It's not in the best neighborhood, but it will do) , if u live with a roommate (like I do) your rent is only $450 a month. 2 k for an apt is crazy. What I consider "luxury" apts in my neighborhood run around $1200 a month for two bedroom, and $800'ish for a 1 bedroom and that's because it is gated with pool, fitness center and all that crap that you don't even need.
2k for an apartment is outrageous, I would never even consider living there, if someone can afford 2k for an apt they might as well buy a house!

If you are poor, how could you afford a mortgage in the first place anyways, especially in OC where I live, real estate places are quite high.

As for 100.00 per week groceries x 4 = 400.00 per month for two people, dude, you can buy $20 worth of chicken and live on that for the month. I live by myself and I don't spend $400 on food, who the hell eats that much?

I used to make 30k at my old job and I lived in a studio apartment and I was never struggling with anything at all.
I don't even think 21k per person is really poor at all.

If you were really bad off financially you can always rent a room instead of an apt, I know if you're lucky you can find one for like $300 or something if you know where to look

That explains a lot....

So do you have a response for anything above? Or are you just going to take cracks at my age when it was posted to show how off base you really are?

$400 a month on food aint shit, what are you talking about? Thats only $13.33 a day, divide that by 2 and thats less than $7 a day.

I seriously doubt you can buy $20 worth of chicken and live on it for a month, and if you are eating $20 of chicken a month you are pretty damn poor.

OK, first off.. I do not think you are understanding what I wrote...

1. never said I was in poverty.
2. my standard of living is average...
2 people in the house, 2 incomes...
2 people, 2 jobs, need two cars.....
3. the 21k was for a small family, not per person. 9k was per person.

yes.. if someone was really bad off financially there are pleany of things for them to do to get by... but they are still in poverty....

Look at the price of things today... gas.. up... groceries... up... everything goes up but salaries...

The whole point of my post was that there is NO WAY a family of say 4... 2 adults and 2 children can live a comfortable life on 21k a year....

Not only do you have the everday expenses.. but wiht children.. you have school clothes... supplies and medical bills... there is just no fucking way... least not around here.

$13.33 will not get you far if you eat out, but if you are poor you can buy groceries, $50 worth of meat including chicken, beef, and pork, that is A LOT of meat. Maybe because I'm a petite female/very small person, and I don't eat a lot, but I only buy a small amount of groceries and I never even end up eating it at all. It 's been sitting in the freezer for like months. There is no way I could even finish eating $50 worth of meat in a month.
I would get sick of meat and probably become obese if I ate that much. Maybe it's because I am health conscious and I try to not eat a lot of beef, because I know it can lead to cancer/heart disease, so I eat lots of vegetables, salads, and rice. And it happens to be cheaper this way too.

I think $200 worth of groceries per person is more than enough (if you are really poor). I know you could get by, I mean it's not like you have to buy NewYork steak or caviar or something. I go to the grocery store all the time, and I know that there's no way I would even want to buy $400 of food, it would rot before I would even get a chance to eat it.

I didn't mean to quote you, I quoted the wrong person, I meant to quote Greg B who said it was on the poverty level already for ONE person to make below 21k anually.

Why would you prefer "inefficient socalistic programs" when you could put money into efficient ones?

This all makes me laugh.

People are in extreme poverty because they can't afford to put gas in their cars and buy filet mignon?

:1orglaugh

No one of you is qualified to speak about poverty... if you were you wouldn't have an internet connection.

:glugglug

I'm not sure what your point is. Are you saying poor people won't starve because they can eat chicken?

Name one 'efficient' one.

The statistics quoted in the article are cited as usually being within a couple of (decimal) points of the official figures and one thing you can be sure of is that no US government is going to publish figures that are higher than absolutely necessary for things like poverty.

My point was to dispute Greg B's statement that you need to spend $400 a month on groceries in order to get buy. I think you can get by on a lot less.