The New York Times reports that the Census Bureau has released a new statistic for the first time as a result of the 2010 Census. The new number calculates the poor as well as those with incomes up to 50% higher than official poverty. Doing so increases the number of Americans either poor or nearly poor by 76 percent – 100 million people, either poor or just above it. This is called the "Supplemental Poverty Measure." There are 51 million categorized as near poor.
Half this group are in households headed by a married couple and 49 percent live in the suburbs. Just under 50 percent are non-Hispanic whites, 18 percent are black and 26 percent are Latino. Twenty-eight percent work full-time throughout the year
There is some quarrelling over the term "near poor" by experts. Some prefer "low income" as the proper description. Whatever the term, this group struggles to make ends meet and lives from paycheck to paycheck. And it is a group that includes a lot of older Americans, 34 percent of whom are poor or near poor. A larger percentage, 39 percent, of children are poor or near poor.
Much more at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/19/us/census-measures-those-not-quite-in-poverty-but-struggling.html
Half this group are in households headed by a married couple and 49 percent live in the suburbs. Just under 50 percent are non-Hispanic whites, 18 percent are black and 26 percent are Latino. Twenty-eight percent work full-time throughout the year
There is some quarrelling over the term "near poor" by experts. Some prefer "low income" as the proper description. Whatever the term, this group struggles to make ends meet and lives from paycheck to paycheck. And it is a group that includes a lot of older Americans, 34 percent of whom are poor or near poor. A larger percentage, 39 percent, of children are poor or near poor.
Much more at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/19/us/census-measures-those-not-quite-in-poverty-but-struggling.html
No comments:
Post a Comment