Poverty in the U.S. - 2003
http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/poverty/poverty.html

Addendum:
The stats from the report show that in 2003 the official poverty rate in the U.S. was 12.5%. An estimated 35.9 million Americans are living in poverty. The poverty rate for children under 18 in 2003 was 17.6%. The share of aggregate income received by the lowest 20 percent of households had a slight reduction – from 3.5 percent to 3.4 percent.

In terms of ethnicity, 8.2% of white Americans were in poverty in 2003, 24.4% of African Americans, 11.8% of Asians, and 22.5% of Hispanics. Median household incomes broke down as $47,800 for whites, $29,600 for African Americans, $55,700 for Asians, and $33,000 for Hispanics.

Interestingly, real median household income has increased from $33,300 in 1967 to $43,300 in 2003...a 30% increase of $10,000 per household in almost 40 years (this number factors in the inflation rate from '67 to '03 which was 452.28%). In terms of income comparisons from the 2003 census, the breakdown looks like this: (for a chart click here)

Lowest 20%: Household income, $18,000 or less, 3.4% shares of overall income
Second 20%: $18,000 to $34,000, 8.7% share of overall income
Third 20%: $34,000 to $54,500, 14.8% share of overall income
Fourth 20%: $54,500 to $86,900, 23.4% share of overall income
Highest 20%: $86,900 and higher, 49.8% share of overall income

In essence, the highest 20% earned a little less than the entire other 80% of the American population.

In terms of health insurance, the "net result was that 15.6 percent of the population, or 45.0 million people, were without health insurance coverage in 2003, up from 15.2 percent in 2002.

So What?
I agree with Federal Reserve chairperson, Alan Greenspan, when he says "...you can look at the system and say it's got a lot of problems to it, and sure it does. It always has. But you can't get around the fact that this is the most extraordinarily successful economy in history." There's no doubt that the standard of living and economic opportunities for the majority of Americans far out-weighs most of the world. However, there may be reason to be alarmed at the growing disparity between "rich and poor". When addressing a Joint Economic Committee in Congress in June, Greenspan pointed out that the lower 80% did not see a growth in income while the upper 20% did, and then commented, "As I've often said, this is not the type of thing which a democratic society - a capitalist democratic society - can really accept without addressing." It's worth noting that Greenspan isn't normally the kind of guy that "liberal" economists qoute as someone on their side.

According to Greenspan, the issue is really one of education, pointing out that U.S. children test above world averages at a 4th grade level, but lower than world averages by their senior year. As a teacher I whole heartedly agree that our current educational system doesn't do much to foster a desire for learning, so it is no surprise that the above statistics are true. Many American students are driven to succeed by parents, teachers, coaches, etc. in all the areas that are measurable (grades, test scores, AP exams, wins-losses) but not essential...and the essentials (the ability to think, reason, work through a problem, and a desire to learn) fall to the wayside.

If Greenspan is right, I think it simply confirms what many have known for a long time: the best thing we can do in combating poverty in our own country (and around the world) is develop new and creative methods for education--making sure that those in the lower income brackets are offered the same educational opportunities as those in the upper brackets. Equality and progress in education lends itself to equality and progress in culture. However, how many groups of Christians (including those I am involved in) are willing to expend the time, effort, and assets to create these new educational ventures? It is so much easier to simply give away the hand-me-downs and do short term missions.
posted by Jimmy at 7:08 PM | |