and those 30% have big screen TVs, DVD players, cars, air conditioning, etc etc. there is poor and then there is poor.
On Oct 16, 3:52 am, "\"Lone Wolf\"" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > The woman who wrote the book worked herself to the bone just to get by > and she didn't have any mortgage repayments to make. > > Katrina has arrived. In the US, the richest 1% of the population own > more total wealth than the bottom 90% and the bottom 40% own just 0.2 > of all well%. A tsunami is on its way. > > Global competition, a race to the bottom in the holy quest to have the > most productive, and at the same time cheapest labor force, so as to > attract multinational investment, who also really, really hate paying > taxes. A lot. > > On Oct 16, 5:59 pm, The Logistician <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > Very interesting stuff. There was a middle class woman who took on > > menial labor / minimum wage jobs and chronicled her effort to survive > > in a book entitled, "Being Nickeled and Dimed," if I remember > > correctly. It's amazing. I've spent a bit of time in Mexico, Brazil, > > and even some of the poor parts of France. That some folks here in > > the US live so well, and others so poorly, is amazing. Watch and see, > > there will still be thousands of Katrina casualties three years from > > now. > > > On Oct 16, 1:28 am, "\"Lone Wolf\"" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > “Working Poor” report: Nearly 30 percent of US families subsist on > > > poverty wages > > > By Tom Eley > > > 16 October 2008 > > > > A report released Tuesday by the Working Poor Families Project reveals > > > that more than 28 percent of American families with one or both > > > parents employed are living in poverty. > > > > The report, “Still Working Hard, Still Falling Short,” is based on > > > data for the period from 2004 through 2006 gathered from the US Bureau > > > of Labor Statistics, the US Census Bureau’s American Community Survey > > > and the Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey. > > > > The report finds that 9.6 million households can be described as low- > > > income or “working poor”—defined as families that earn less than 200 > > > percent of the official poverty level. There were 350,000 more such > > > families in 2006 than in 2002. More than 21 million children now live > > > in low-income working families—an increase of 800,000 in four years. > > > > In 2006 there were more than 29 million jobs in the US that paid below > > > the official poverty level—defined as $9.91 an hour for full-time labor > > > —an increase of nearly 5 million poverty-wage jobs from 2002. > > > > Family income inequality also increased rapidly between 2002 and 2006, > > > the report says. In 2006, the top 20 percent of US households earned > > > on average 9.2 times as much as the bottom quintile. > > > > The report notes that working poor families “lack the earnings > > > necessary to meet their basic needs—a struggle exacerbated by soaring > > > prices for food, gas, health and education.” About 60 percent of low- > > > income working families are forced to spend more than one-third of > > > their income on housing, and nearly 40 percent lack health insurance > > > for one or both parents. > > > > These families struggle under poverty conditions despite parents > > > working long hours. According to the report, “Adults in low-income > > > working families worked on average 2,552 hours per year in 2006, the > > > equivalent of almost one-and-a-quarter full-time workers.” > > > > This total is about one third of all the hours that pass in a year. It > > > is nearly twice the total yearly work hours of the average German > > > worker, who works 1,362 hours per week, and 162 hours more per year > > > than the average South Korean worker, according to statistics from the > > > Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. > > > > The report documents the sharp decline in living standards for wide > > > layers of the working class, the result of decades of corporate > > > downsizing and wage-cutting presided over by Democratic and well as > > > Republican administrations. It shows that poverty-level jobs are > > > increasingly common and are held by broad sections of the population. > > > Contrary to certain stereotypes promoted by the media, the majority of > > > families living on poverty wages are neither immigrants, minorities or > > > families with a single parent. > > > > Some 72 percent of poor families, according to the report, hold jobs. > > > More than half are headed by married couples, 69 percent have only > > > American-born parents, 89 percent have a parent between the ages of 25 > > > and 54, and 43 percent have white non-Hispanic parents. Only 25 > > > percent receive food stamp assistance. > > > > The study breaks its statistics down to the state level. In general, > > > the conditions of working families are worst in the South and the non- > > > Pacific West. Texas, for example, has the fourth highest number of > > > working families defined as low-income, the second lowest percentage > > > of low-income families who have a high school diploma or its > > > equivalent, the second highest number with no post-secondary school > > > experience, the fewest with health insurance, and the third highest > > > family income inequality. > > > > New York has the highest family income inequality in the nation, > > > California the fourth highest. > > > > The impoverishment of ever-larger sections of the working class > > > population is the outcome of a number of processes: the dismantling of > > > large sections of basic industry, the wave of union-busting and strike- > > > breaking in the 1980s, the gutting of social welfare programs, the > > > betrayal of the working class by the trade union organizations. > > > > The other side of this process is the vast enrichment of the top 10 > > > percent of the US population and the ever-greater concentration of > > > wealth in the hands of the financial elite. > > > > A survey carried out in March by Equilar and reported by the New York > > > Times revealed that the CEOs of the 200 largest publicly traded > > > companies earned an average of $11.7 million in 2007. > > > > In 2005, the top 1 percent of US households accounted for 21.8 percent > > > of all pre-tax income, twice the figure in 1970s. This represented the > > > greatest concentration of income since the year before the onset of > > > the Great Depression, 1928, when about 24 percent of national income > > > went to the top percentile. > > > > It should be noted that the “Still Working Hard, Still Falling Short” > > > report reflects conditions that existed prior to the eruption of the > > > financial crisis in August of 2007 and the subsequent slide into > > > recession.- Hide quoted text - > > > - Show quoted text - --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more. -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
