Half of U.S. now in poverty
It is sinking faster than even I thought. It's the Titanic version of Rome.
At what point is the tipping point that will result in full revolution against the 1%? 99%? We are half way there.
Democrats have failed the working class.
Republicans have succeeded in killing off the working class.
12-15-2011
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/census-shows-1-2-people-103940568.html
Census shows 1 in 2 people are poor or low-income
Squeezed by rising living costs, a record number of Americans nearly 1 in 2 have fallen into poverty or are scraping by on earnings that classify them as low income.
The latest census data depict a middle class that's shrinking as unemployment stays high and the government's safety net frays. The new numbers follow years of stagnating wages for the middle class that have hurt millions of workers and families.
"People who never thought they would need food are in need of help," said Mayor Sly James of Kansas City, Mo., who co-chairs a mayors' task force on hunger and homelessness.
"There's no doubt the recession has thrown a lot of people out of work and incomes have fallen"
Many middle-class Americans are dropping below the low-income threshold because of pay cuts, a forced reduction of work hours or a spouse losing a job. Housing and child-care costs are consuming up to half of a family's income.
The struggling Americans include Zenobia Bechtol, 18, in Austin, Texas, who earns minimum wage as a part-time pizza delivery driver. Bechtol and her 7-month-old baby were recently evicted from their apartment after her boyfriend, an electrician, lost his job in the sluggish economy.
Paychecks for low-income families are shrinking. The average earnings for the bottom 20 percent of families have fallen from $16,788 in 1979 to just under $15,000.
In contrast, higher-income brackets had significant wage growth since 1979, with earnings for the top 5 percent of families climbing 64 percent to more than $313,000.
It is sinking faster than even I thought. It's the Titanic version of Rome.
At what point is the tipping point that will result in full revolution against the 1%? 99%? We are half way there.
Democrats have failed the working class.
Republicans have succeeded in killing off the working class.
12-15-2011
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/census-shows-1-2-people-103940568.html
Census shows 1 in 2 people are poor or low-income
Squeezed by rising living costs, a record number of Americans nearly 1 in 2 have fallen into poverty or are scraping by on earnings that classify them as low income.
The latest census data depict a middle class that's shrinking as unemployment stays high and the government's safety net frays. The new numbers follow years of stagnating wages for the middle class that have hurt millions of workers and families.
"People who never thought they would need food are in need of help," said Mayor Sly James of Kansas City, Mo., who co-chairs a mayors' task force on hunger and homelessness.
"There's no doubt the recession has thrown a lot of people out of work and incomes have fallen"
Many middle-class Americans are dropping below the low-income threshold because of pay cuts, a forced reduction of work hours or a spouse losing a job. Housing and child-care costs are consuming up to half of a family's income.
The struggling Americans include Zenobia Bechtol, 18, in Austin, Texas, who earns minimum wage as a part-time pizza delivery driver. Bechtol and her 7-month-old baby were recently evicted from their apartment after her boyfriend, an electrician, lost his job in the sluggish economy.
Paychecks for low-income families are shrinking. The average earnings for the bottom 20 percent of families have fallen from $16,788 in 1979 to just under $15,000.
In contrast, higher-income brackets had significant wage growth since 1979, with earnings for the top 5 percent of families climbing 64 percent to more than $313,000.
Facebook
Twitter