General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsPoverty in America: Why Can’t We End It?
By PETER EDELMAN
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The first thing needed if were to get people out of poverty is more jobs that pay decent wages....This isnt a problem specific to the current moment. Weve been drowning in a flood of low-wage jobs for the last 40 years. Most of the income of people in poverty comes from work. According to the most recent data available from the Census Bureau, 104 million people a third of the population have annual incomes below twice the poverty line, less than $38,000 for a family of three...Half the jobs in the nation pay less than $34,000 a year, according to the Economic Policy Institute. A quarter pay below the poverty line for a family of four, less than $23,000 annually...Its not that the whole economy stagnated. Theres been growth, a lot of it, but it has stuck at the top...Low-wage jobs bedevil tens of millions of people. At the other end of the low-income spectrum we have a different problem. The safety net for single mothers and their children has developed a gaping hole over the past dozen years. This is a major cause of the dramatic increase in extreme poverty during those years. The census tells us that 20.5 million people earn incomes below half the poverty line, less than about $9,500 for a family of three up eight million from 2000.
Why? A substantial reason is the near demise of welfare now called Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, or TANF. In the mid-90s more than two-thirds of children in poor families received welfare. But that number has dwindled over the past decade and a half to roughly 27 percent.
One result: six million people have no income other than food stamps. Food stamps provide an income at a third of the poverty line, close to $6,300 for a family of three. Its hard to understand how they survive.
At least we have food stamps. They have been a powerful antirecession tool in the past five years, with the number of recipients rising to 46 million today from 26.3 million in 2007. By contrast, welfare has done little to counter the impact of the recession; although the number of people receiving cash assistance rose from 3.9 million to 4.5 million since 2007, many states actually reduced the size of their rolls and lowered benefits to those in greatest need.
- more -
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/29/opinion/sunday/why-cant-we-end-poverty-in-america.html
bemildred
(90,061 posts)That's why we "can't end it". It wouldn't even take that much.
ProSense
(116,464 posts)"We don't want to give people money just because they need it."
...increased the minimum wage to anywhere from to $12 per hour, they could make a significant dent in reversing the poverty trend.
The fight against such an increase is to keep tens of millions of people in poverty.
bemildred
(90,061 posts)That is one.
Sirveri
(4,517 posts)The best solution is to tax the rich. Tax the ever living shit out of them. Income cap level of taxation. Then they can't extract all the wealth from their company, that leaves them four options. Voluntarily raise wages. Buy upgrades for their facilities. Give the money to the government (who could then give it to the poor). Lower prices (effectively raising everyones wages).
TransitJohn
(6,932 posts)n/t
HiPointDem
(20,729 posts)Hydra
(14,459 posts)and so very damning.
+1000
Egalitarian Thug
(12,448 posts)99Forever
(14,524 posts)The 1%ers don't give a rat's ass about "helping the poor." They own our government.
Duh.
arely staircase
(12,482 posts)this is due to several factors. one is the fact that this country was founded by calvinists who believed in that material success was the sign of a good christian who was going to heaven. another reason is the fact we have allowed our public airwaves to be completely dominated by pro-corporate anti progressive entities that pump out slanted propaganda 24/7.
IMHO
Rosa Luxemburg
(28,627 posts)for jobs looking out for an unemployed neighbor, friends or relative. helping them find work. There are jobs out there even if it means travelling. People can look out for each other.
We need for job training centers and vocational training in schools so that children can learn trades as well as their core studies. Many students are not prepared for the workplace. Students should be allowed to do paid internships in companies, hospitals, government from age 15 with a view to becoming employed.
Austrias strategy of offering labour traineeships and school education simultaneously to young people was the best way to get through the unemployment crisis. The countrys schools have been cooperating with its economy like this for years.
http://austriantimes.at/news/Business/2012-04-03/40671/Unemployment_remains_low
US minimum wage should be raised to $10 (UK minimum wage) or more.
also worth a look:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/21/poverty-rises-despite-end-of-recession_n_1023946.html
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-07-25/companies-say-3-million-unfilled-positions-in-skill-crisis-jobs.html
The Magistrate
(95,244 posts)In the immortal words of utility baron Samuel Insull: "My experience is that the greatest aid to efficiency of labor is a long line of men waiting at the gate."
"Romney loves America like a tick loves a dog."
dembotoz
(16,799 posts)someone who you can point to and say THOSE FOLKS about
Bonobo
(29,257 posts)"Never forget that the cure for Poverty is money."
We COULD end poverty and it isn't complicated. The answer is money.
Now what is the REAL question?
bhikkhu
(10,715 posts)- a proxy for labor, or resources, or material goods in general? If so, how should it be fairly distributed, and to what extent should there be a "right to money" (another way of saying a "right to survive" independent of labor, resources and so forth?
mick063
(2,424 posts)The official Fox line:
The poor are the reason America is failing. We can only recover by helping the rich. The rich will float the boat so that everyone will prosper.
Ronald Reagan, their deity, thrived politically with this message. Then we saw the grand scheme come to fruition in 2008. The year of the "no holds barred" giveaway of taxpayer money to the men with golden parachutes.
And it seems that it wasn't an eye opener for half of our country. Only Fox News can keep so many folks unenlightened. Only the avid Lemming followers of Fox news are still sold on a concept proven to be deadly to our American way of life..