"One in Two Americans Are Poor" says Census

According to new supplemental data from the Census Bureau, nearly half of Americans have fallen under the poverty line or are classified as “low income” .

  

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Census shows 1 in 2 people are poor or low-income
By HOPE YEN, Associated Press  

WASHINGTON (AP) — 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.

'Stagflation':

Stagflation occurs when the economy isn't growing but prices are, which is not a good situation for a country to be in. This happened to a great extent during the 1970s, when world oil prices rose dramatically, fueling sharp inflation in developed countries. For these countries, including the U.S., stagnation increased the inflationary effects.
 
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.
About 97.3 million Americans fall into a low-income category, commonly defined as those earning between 100 and 199 percent of the poverty level, based on a new supplemental measure by the Census Bureau that is designed to provide a fuller picture of poverty. Together with the 49.1 million who fall below the poverty line and are counted as poor, they number 146.4 million, or 48 percent of the U.S. population. That's up by 4 million from 2009, the earliest numbers for the newly developed poverty measure.

*146.4 million people represents a huge number of votes.

A survey of 29 cities conducted by the U.S. Conference of Mayors released Thursday points to a gloomy outlook for those on the lower end of the income scale.

Many mayors cited the challenges of meeting increased demands for food assistance, expressing particular concern about possible cuts to federal programs such as food stamps and WIC, which assists low-income pregnant women and mothers. Unemployment led the list of causes of hunger in cities, followed by poverty, low wages and high housing costs.

 

Many people in the U.S. are in dire straights and with the cost of bank bailouts and two wars the government does not have much stored wealth to provide the 'safety nets' people need.

If you have shopped in Walmart lately, you know few goods are made in North America.  In order to ensure a steady stream of cheap consumer products, America has moved jobs overseas and the effects of that failed policy are beginning to show.  Stagflation, falling house prices and few well-paying jobs leaves one feeling hopeless.  Is this nearly the bottom in the economic cycle? Things always look thier worst at the lowest level of economic activity and begin to pick up from there.

Copyright © 2011 The Associated Press.