The government began keeping low income statistics in 1959. More people fell below the poverty line last year than ever within the time since. A Census Bureau report released Sept. 16 revealed that 43 million in the U.S. might be officially determined as living in poverty. After increasing to 13.2 percent in 2008, it leaped further to 14.3 percent last year. As the GOP eyes a takeover of government after the fall elections, the poverty report gives them another round of ammunition in the political battle. Under scrutiny, however, Bush-era policies in the last decade can be tied to conditions that set the stage for the current low income increase. Advocates for the financially poor say the poverty level is not an accurate metric for understanding the true nature of the problem. Rightists say the low income threshold leads to an overestimation of the amount of poor people in The United States. Heeding the critics, Census Bureau statisticians will roll out a series of new me! asurements in an attempt to more fully define the poverty level from 2011 forward.
Low income gain close to worse estimations
That the amount of financially poor people had been increasing in the United States was no surprise. Numerous experts really anticipated it to be higher. Soe said it would come in at nearly 15 percent. A Census Bureau official told CNN the low income level would are higher if not for a decline in poverty among elderly Americans, which fell to 8.9 % from 9.7 percent. The poverty threshold, or poverty line, is the minimum income deemed necessary for an adequate standard of living. Looked at that way, the current poverty threshold seems to be considerable upbeat. According to the Census Bureau, a family of four is living in poverty with an income of $22,050.
Lower income measurements obsolete
About a half century ago government officials attempted to determine the income considered at the low income level by using the least amount necessary to buy groceries. MSNBC reports that experts say current methods of calculating the number of Americans living in poverty fails to consider important factors beyond income. Poverty thresholds as they exist are out of touch with reality, Shawn Fremstad of the Center for Economic and Policy Research told MSNBC. For survival in current economic conditions, a family needs more than is presently stated. To more accurately calculate a poverty line, the government will incorporate additional factors into the equation, for example, low-income tax credits and job-related expenses. Fremstad suggested a metric depending on median income to show how financially poor individuals are doing compared to society at large. Last year, median income for United States families was $49,777.
Allow finger pointing begin
The upcoming November ballot gives the latest poverty figures more attention than usual. Opponents of the Obama administration say its policies are causing the problem . Nevertheless, economic growth credited to the Bush administration saw a concurrent rise in poverty. A Washington Independent article said that a Commerce Department official told Congress last year that after rising during the recession of 2001, the low income result failed to recede. The poverty rate rose .08 percent throughout the 2000s expansion. A higher percentage of Americans were financially poor at the end of the expansion than at the beginning. Bush-era economics gave poverty a running start while they caused the economy to collapse.
Additional reading
CNN
cnn.com/2010/OPINION/09/20/meyer.sullivan.census.poverty/index.html
MSNBC
msnbc.msn.com/id/39211644/ns/us_news-life/
Fox News
politics.blogs.foxnews.com/2010/09/15/rnc-supports-odonnell-delaware-nrsc-changes-tune
Washington Independent
washingtonindependent.com/97318/poverty-in-the-recession
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