Almost 50% of Americans Live in Poverty
According to revised Census Bureau data, 48 percent of American citizens (over 146 million people) live in poverty. Some of the findings include…
- Over 146 million Americans are low-income, meaning they earn less than twice the federal poverty line ($44,700 for a family of four). This is an increase of 4 million people since 2009
- Over 49 million Americans (16 percent) fall below the poverty line ($22,350 for a family of four)
- 57 percent of children are low-income with seniors as the next largest demographic group
- 73 percent of Hispanics are low-income, followed by blacks, Asians and non-Hispanic whites
These new numbers use the Census’ Supplemental Poverty Measure and offer a new, more accurate measure of poverty in the United States. To understand why these numbers better capture the number of Americans in poverty, a little history is in order.
In contrast with the majority of the world, the United States has traditionally used an absolute poverty measure. This means that the same levels are used to decide whether someone lives in poverty regardless of whether they live in New York City, Denver, Fort Collins, Alamosa or Cheyenne (exceptions being Alaska and Hawaii). Specifically, the poverty guidelines were calculated in the early 1960s and set to equal the three times the cost of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s minimum food diet. This assumption was based on a report indicating that food costs accounted for roughly one third of total monthly income. This means that non-food costs such as rent or a mortgage, utilities and transportation are not factored into the poverty level. The original, 1960s poverty levels have only been adjusted for inflation since their adoption; the poverty level for a family of four is currently $22,350 ($10,890 for an individual).
The new Supplemental Poverty Measure adjusts the traditional poverty levels for other factors. The family budget of 2011 does not resemble the family budget of 1964. Gas, housing and medical costs have boomed over the last 50 years and the Supplemental Poverty Measure tries to take into account widely varying regional living costs such as medical, housing, transportation and other living expenses. Housing now takes up over one-third of earnings for over 60 percent of low-income families. Roughly 42 million more Americans are considered low-income using the Supplemental Poverty Measure compared to the traditional poverty measure.
Why does this all matter? Many states use federal poverty guidelines and 200 percent of the poverty level specifically to determine eligibility for food stamps, Medicaid, tax credit and other government aid programs. What may seem like a technicality is a very big deal for the 42 million Americans not considered low-income using the traditional model.
These realities are important as individual states and our nation as a whole discuss budget priorities and what kind of support we can offer to those in need. According to a recent survey of 29 major cities, over 25 percent of people currently needing emergency food aid do not receive the needed support. This is only projected to get worse as states address budget shortfalls and the economy leaves many families in need of assistance. Regardless of how they’re counted, the reality is that many families are struggling to cover their basic needs. Incomes for the bottom 20 percent of families have fallen by nearly $2,000 since 1979 to under $15,000 while the costs for basic needs have increased significantly.
As I mentioned in my September blog post, these numbers and the reality they reflect are of critical importance to the wider sustainability community. If 1 out of every 2 Americans is facing the reality of living in poverty and stretching each dollar for their family, then it is extremely difficult to take real action on issues that seem not to have immediate impacts on people’s daily lives (ie climate change, environmental protection, etc). I’ll end this post with the same warning I issued in September: if we don’t connect the dots and communicate the important connections between business, the environment and improving people’s day to day quality of life (especially those with the most day to day challenges), then we will fail to create the sustainable long term future we’re all working towards.
Read the full National Public Radio article explaining the revised Census data.
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