Flood refugees from Arkansas near Memphis (Texas, 1937). These people, with all their belongings, are bound for the Lower Rio Grande Valley, where they hope to pick cotton.
Four out of every ten American children live in low-income families, according to new research from the National Center for Children in Poverty (NCCP) at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health. This finding from the 2015 edition of the center’s Basic Facts about Low-Income Children fact sheet series underscores the magnitude of the problem of family economic insecurity and child poverty in the United States. Analyzing the latest available U.S. Census data, NCCP researchers find that 44 percent of children under age 18 lived in low-income families in 2013, and 22 percent lived in poor families. Low-income families are defined as those with incomes less than two times the Federal Poverty Threshold (about $47,000 for a family of four with two children) and poor families are defined as those with incomes below the threshold (about $24,000 for a family of four with two children).
“Far too many American children live in economically insecure families, and this serious threat to our nation’s future does not get the attention it deserves,” said NCCP Director Renée Wilson-Simmons. “NCCP’s Basic Facts about Low-Income Children provides essential data to raise awareness about our most vulnerable children.”
Education time: Who is Anonymous? Anonymous is exactly what it sounds like. A network of people (which makes it indestructible) who fight AGAINST injustice, corruption and inequality and for humanity, love, peace and equal rights for all! Be anon :)
Stand up for those who cant stand up for themselves
I’m still very unemployed, but I did get a one week dog sitting job and honestly getting paid $200 to watch a very cute and sweet german Shepard for the week is what my mental health needs rights now.
TIL that the average US adult spends most of my monthly income on nonessentials.
This is one of those things where “average” does not mean “typical.”
Additional contextual info: The US poverty level for a household of one is $1,133. (Poverty level is used to determine eligibility for public assistance programs, as well as for statistical and tracking purposes.) Percentage of the US living in poverty at the last census was 11.4%.
How much money do you suppose Nonessential Purchases Georg has to be spending in order for these numbers to work out?
The math’s too complex for me, but I’m gonna estimate, “A Fuckton.”
This statistic sheds absolutely no light on how prudently poor folks manage their money, and if you think it does, the net effect is to make you even less informed about that topic than you would be if you’d never seen it.
Also worth noting, some of those “nonessential purchases” may well be essential if you’re poor: rideshares, for instance. If you don’t own a car, and need to go somewhere that public transport doesn’t service, a rideshare service might be the best/only way to get there.
If you work multiple jobs–especially low-status ones–there could be significant logistical barriers to bringing your meals with you (back-to-back shifts at different jobs and lack of refrigeration/safe place to put food while working are the ones that spring to mind), making it essential to buy it (usually at the closest/quickest possible place).
Online shopping (and here I’m assuming they mean the fees, not the actual items, which may be essentials) might be the best/only option if you don’t have transportation, or if you’re always working when the stores are open.
Conclusion: there are uses for this statistic (marketing, is springing to mind–if you’re trying to sell things, it’s helpful to know what people are doing with their discretionary income), but none of them have anything to do with poverty.
