The following are 19 statistics about the poor that will absolutely astound you....
#1 According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the percentage of "very poor" rose in 300 out of the 360 largest metropolitan areas during 2010.
#2 Last year, 2.6 million more Americans descended into poverty. That was the largest increase that we have seen since the U.S. government began keeping statistics on this back in 1959.
#3 It isn't just the ranks of the "very poor" that are rising. The number of those just considered to be "poor" is rapidly increasing as well. Back in the year 2000, 11.3% of all Americans were living in poverty. Today, 15.1% of all Americans are living in poverty.
#4 The poverty rate for children living in the United States increased to 22% in 2010.
#5 There are 314 counties in the United States where at least 30% of the children are facing food insecurity.
#6 In Washington D.C., the "child food insecurity rate" is 32.3%.
#7 More than 20 million U.S. children rely on school meal programs to keep from going hungry.
#8 One out of every six elderly Americans now lives below the federal poverty line.
#9 Today, there are over 45 million Americans on food stamps.
#10 According to the Wall Street Journal, nearly 15 percent of all Americans are now on food stamps.
#11 In 2010, 42 percent of all single mothers in the United States were on food stamps.
#12 The number of Americans on food stamps has increased 74% since 2007.
#13 We are told that the economy is recovering, but the number of Americans on food stamps has grown by another 8 percent over the past year.
#14 Right now, one out of every four American children is on food stamps.
#15 It is being projected that approximately 50 percent of all U.S. children will be on food stamps at some point in their lives before they reach the age of 18.
#16 More than 50 million Americans are now on Medicaid. Back in 1965, only one out of every 50 Americans was on Medicaid. Today, approximately one out of every 6 Americans is on Medicaid.
#17 One out of every six Americans is now enrolled in at least one government anti-poverty program.
#18 The number of Americans that are going to food pantries and soup kitchens has increased by 46% since 2006.
#19 It is estimated that up to half a million children may currently be homeless in the United States.
Sadly, we don't hear much about this on the nightly news, do we?
Almost all the wealthiest are Dems in blue states.
Its so bad that I am forced to use a tracfone and don’t even have an Ipad.
All a result of believing in government instead of self.
42% of single mothers are on food stamps. what does this tell us about being a single mother? should the govt bail you out if you have a child out of wedlock with no means of support? i guess so according to the article.
other thought, if 6% are in poverty, than 94% (check my math there) are not. how does that compare historically? has there ever been a society with greater than 94% non poverty?
The whole liberal-driven poverty question, like everything else driven by libs, is suspect. If we check that facts, according to Mark Levin in his book “Liberty and Tyranny” the greatest increase in the poverty rate comes from Mexican immigrants...legal and illegal. Of course, if Obama is re-elected, we’ll see millions more non-immigrants thrust into poverty.
The extreme poor brought this on themselves by helping to elect a Chicago Marxist thug to run the country. They should have known that the standard of living is always in the toilet in Marxist banana republics. You can’t have a prosperous America AND Marxism/communism too. It just doesn’t work that way.
The comments there are not too kind to Ø bummer. Looks like the hope and change crowd is getting angry.
Sorry, but this is a crock. I can remember people living in tar-paper shacks in the south in the 60s. My Mom wasn’t allowed to wear shoes to school until the first frost...then that afternoon, they would break out the shoes and try to figure out who could wear what.
Food stamps are a scam, run by government to justify their existence. I’ve never been on food stamps, but I can remember eating some mighty tough venison because that is what was left...and don’t get me started on the ‘food insecurity’ BS!
The poor have it great in America.
Somehow, some way, this is still Bush’s fault. Can’t be Barry’s
They need to have these bad numbers so they can say "See, see how bad it is, we need more money to fix these problems"
And as usual it makes everybody "feel" bad so they go along with it. Oh, well. We have the govt. we deserve.
What’s “very poor”? No iPad?
C’mon we’ve put everyone on the dole. There is no “extreme poverty” except perhaps in the most rural of rural areas.
We’re ADVERTISING for food stamps, WIC and free cell phones, FGS!
And I bet you the vast majority of the poor voted for King Obama, and they will again. Nothing will stop these so call poor from continuing their golden goose. This next election those King Obama bought might get him reelected. He has 12 more months to build his communists/freeloader empire.
Little Known Facts:
When calculating income for federal income taxes and to determine if people are below the poverty threshold the government does not include welfare, food stamps, government paid medical and other freebies and handouts.
So many of those included in the data as below the poverty line actually have more disposable “income” than the government reports.
When calculating income for the purposes of making mortgage loans (many to people who did not have enough real income to qualify) the government requires lenders to include welfare payments as income.
The government stcks the deck both ways to further the Wefare State agenda.
http://www.hud.gov/offices/cpd/affordablehousing/training/web/calculator/definitions/part5.cfm
This is nothing but Communist propaganda by Obama. The redefine “poor” as anyone not making a million bucks. This is an attempt at class warfare.
This is why every city now has an "Occupy Obamaville" settlement.