The SPM was developed by the Census Bureau to try to correct some of the shortcomings of the official poverty rate that was developed in the 1960s. The SPM includes the cost of non-food necessities such as housing and childcare, includes a broader range of income sources, and, very importantly, adjusts for local costs of living.

For example, using the official poverty measure, poverty in California is a bit more than the average among states, but using the SPM, which takes into account the high cost of living in California, the state actually has the highest rate of poverty of all states. This is better aligned with the high rate of homelessness here.

Hardest hit by the rise in poverty were children, whose poverty rate more than doubled, with an increase of almost 140%, going from 5.2% in 2021 to 12.4% in 2022. Women and Native Americans also saw very large increases in their rates of poverty, rising 93% and 87%, respectively.

Despite the low and falling unemployment rate in 2022, poverty rose with the end of pandemic-era federal government aid, especially the end of the expanded child tax credit for low-income parents. These cuts are continuing this year, as people will be losing their Medicaid health insurance and the student loan payments and interest resume. Poverty and hardship are likely to keep rising.

#Poverty #Unemployment #StudentLoans #Census

It is clear that the U.S. government might learn a lesson from its neighbor to the south, rather than interfering with the Cubans’ right to determine their own history. Since the U.S. in particular has a Gross Domestic Product of $15 trillion annually and a population of 311 million people, it is worth noting that, as of 2010, nearly one third of the population live in homes that experience hunger. Not only this, but 22% of the children in the U.S. live in poverty. Overall, 14% of the population lives in poverty. This has been on a steady increase since the year 2000.

The state of Florida, being only 90 miles from the city of Havana, Cuba, is noted for having a higher than average rate of food insecure homes in the country, at 16%.

Marisol Marquez, who worked as a teaching assistant in a Tampa elementary school, recalled the experience of teaching one student who was experiencing hunger: “One of my students was born in Mexico and her parents were undocumented. They had left Alabama after the state legislature passed a racist law targeting undocumented people. Despite how hard they worked, they also had problems feeding their children, one of whom was nine-year old Heidi. She always appeared to be starving in class before lunchtime, and so I would help provide her with snacks despite my own hourly wage of $8.25.”

Students like the one above are able to receive a free lunch at the school Ms. Marquez taught at, but only if they filled out several forms. One way the Cuban government has combatted child hunger in their country is through providing free meals (breakfast and lunch) at their schools, for both students and the workers at these institutions. Not only this, but the government also has implemented a program which provides food to homes for those at risk of hunger. Baskets filled with staple foods are delivered weekly to ensure that no child on the island goes without a meal.

#Cuba #poverty #malnutrition #UnitedStates #Americas

Minneapolis, MN – The Welfare Rights Committee (WRC) held an event called “Celebrate the Fight for Justice!” here, June 30.

WRC is an organization of low-income families who fight attacks on poor and working Minnesotans.

Speakers at the celebration recounted the battles at the 2012 legislative session, where the Republican majorities in the House and Senate attempted to pass laws that would make life harder for people and families living below the poverty level. Speakers at the celebration emphasized that the struggle waged by WRC does makes a difference.

This year, they were successful in stopping most of the attacks proposed by the legislature. They stopped a move to reduce the time limit on public assistance to three years; stopped drug testing and criminal background checks of all aid recipients, and other attacks.

#MinneapolisMN #PoorPeoplesMovements #WelfareRightsCommitteeWRC #poverty #workersStruggle

At the same time, corporate profits after taxes soared to a record high in 2010. After tax corporate profits were more than $1.4 trillion dollars in 2010, up almost 20% from 2009. Corporations were able to produce more than before the recession began, while paying their employees less. Total business profits totaled almost $3.5 trillion, or about one-quarter of the entire economy.

The poverty rate would have been even higher except for a number of factors. The official poverty line is unrealistically low, set at only $17,568 for a family of three including two children. Millions of people, especially younger adults, ‘doubled-up’ by living with relatives. While the poverty rate for adults, 25 to 34 years old, staying with their parents was only 8.4% when counting their entire family income, but was 45.3% if only their income was counted.

The median income, where half of household earn more and half earn less, fell to $49,445 in 2010, a drop of 2.3% from the 2009 figure of $50,599. This is the lowest average income, adjusted for inflation, since 1996. Inequality among races increased, as the median for white households fell 1.3% from 2010 to 2009, as compared to a 3.2% drop for African Americans and 2.3% drop for Latinos. African American median household income fell to less than 59% that of a typical white household in 2010.

The report also said that a nearly a million more people went without health insurance for all of 2010 as compared to 2009, with the total rising to almost 50 million. There were also large inequalities in health insurance coverage, with more than 30% of Latinos lacking health insurance as compared to less than 12% of whites. This drop in health insurance coverage was mainly due to a fall in people getting health insurance from work, partly made up for by expanded government health insurance (Medicaid for low-income households, Medicare for seniors and disabled, and military health care), that covered an additional 1.8 million people in 2010 as compared to 2009.

The numbers of poor and people without any health insurance could expand dramatically if the federal government goes through with proposed cuts to Social Security and Medicare. The poverty rate for the elderly, who generally are not working, was 9.0% in 2010, as compared to a 13.7% rate for working age adults, 18 to 64 years old, because of Social Security. The percentage of elderly without health insurance was only 2.0%, as compared to almost 22% for working aged adults 18-64 years old, again because of Medicare. Privatization of Social Security and Medicare as proposed by the Republicans would increase poverty for seniors and cause the number of uninsured to soar.

#SanJoséCA #poverty #corporateProfits #CensusBureau #wealthDisparity