How do you define poor?

Question

The following are facts about persons defined as "poor" by the Census Bureau, taken from various gov­ernment reports:

* Forty-three percent of all poor households actu­ally own their own homes. The average home owned by persons classified as poor by the Census Bureau is a three-bedroom house with one-and-a-half baths, a garage, and a porch or patio.

* Eighty percent of poor households have air conditioning. By contrast, in 1970, only 36 percent of the entire U.S. population enjoyed air conditioning.

* Only 6 percent of poor households are over­crowded. More than two-thirds have more than two rooms per person.

* The average poor American has more living space than the average individual living in Paris, London, Vienna, Athens, and other cities throughout Europe. (These comparisons are to the average citizens in foreign countries, not to those classified as poor.)

* Nearly three-quarters of poor households own a car; 31 percent own two or more cars.

* Ninety-seven percent of poor households have a color television; over half own two or more color televisions.

* Seventy-eight percent have a VCR or DVD player; 62 percent have cable or satellite TV reception.

* Eighty-nine percent own microwave ovens, more than half have a stereo, and more than a third have an automatic dishwasher.

As a group, America's poor are far from being chronically undernourished. The average consump­tion of protein, vitamins, and minerals is virtually the same for poor and middle-class children and, in most cases, is well above recommended norms. Poor children actually consume more meat than do higher-income children and have average protein intakes 100 percent above recommended levels. Most poor children today are, in fact, supernour­ished and grow up to be, on average, one inch taller and 10 pounds heavier than the GIs who stormed the beaches of Normandy in World War II.

While the poor are generally well nourished, some poor families do experience temporary food shortages. But even this condition is relatively rare; 89 percent of the poor report their families have "enough" food to eat, while only 2 percent say they "often" do not have enough to eat.

Answer 1

Thanks for the details. I have known for years that the poverty level always remains constant because of the way it is determined. The census bureau arbitrarily draws a line and everyone below that line is considered poor. If at the next census there are not enough people below that line, they simply raise the line until the requisite number of people fall below it.

Quite a scam, isn't it? No matter how much the economy grows no matter how much better the poor do, the number of people viewed as needing some kind of government assistance remains constant.

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Answer 2

I don't know where you got your data but it is very suspect. When one goes to any of the federal govt. sites to look up poverty or income levels you get a lot of very complex definitions and methods for determining who is poor. However, with almost any method when an example is given you find people living on a shoestring not what you have described above. An easy site I went to was the U.S. Census Bureau and they gave the following info for 2006.
Poverty threshold for a household or family unit. A family of two have only an income of $13,896, family of three $16,079, family of four $20,796 and so on up to a family of nine $41,499. Now with these statistics if the family of four only had one person working full time at 40 hours a week that person would be making about $10 an hour. Out of this he pays some taxes (at least social security) which reduces that by quite a bit then see what kind of home and amenities can be afforded after putting two children through school and pay medical bills. Many jobs no longer provide health insurance and if it does it requires premium payments and co-pay which will usually reduce the pay check by at least $100 a pay day so income is further reduced. Now if two people are working in the home they are making less than minimum wage. Try living on minimum wage and see if you can afford a nice house. Americans, even the poor do live better than people in most of the rest of the world (except much of northern and western Europe) But what you are saying up above is a misrepresentation of the reality and it prevents honest debate. Also, significantly the stratification of income and a lack of upward mobility in America is becoming more and more firm. It's harder for a person born in poverty to raise out of it now than it has been in almost any prior period in history for at least the last 100 years in America and the situation is only getting worse. Check out the urban poor in our big cities or the rural poor in Appalachia talk to them and then tell us how good they have it. This might open your eyes.

Answer 3

Wow....everything is wonderful. See how simple it is? All you have to do is is believe the 'government'...the same 'government' that we're told over and over 'can't do anything right'. Why would any sane person believe the Census drones are anymore efficient or truthful than the 'education system' or the 'post office'? I suppose you just have to believe what yoou want to believe without any critical investigation. But enough of that. How about all the denial that 'poverty programs' work, after all...'social programs' are run by the 'government'. I guess we just have to assume that there are no 'poor'...the 'poor' are justl propaganda from the 'liberal strawman'. The strawman enemy that the right wing talk show nitwits blame everything on. So you see, if you have a micro-wave oven, you're not really poor.....wow....of course not everyone starts out 'poor'...sometimes, lots of times, people fall off the ladder of success. people get sick...lose a well paying job...get reamed in a divorce...become a victim of crime...go nuts....all kinds of things happen to real people. True, they still have the house and the car and the dishwasher, but they also have massive debt. If it only was as simple as the reactionaries say it is.....too bad it isn't!

Answer 4

You said all of that to say what? America doesn't have any poor? Look around buddy anyone make least then 15 and hour I dont see how they are making it. They must live in a house they own, Live a couple of blocks from their job. See the doctor every three years if then. Never have children and dont't hope to do better. Each generation should do better than the next to keep a healthy country but we have fallen way short of what America can be.

Answer 5

Statistics are facinating. Yes based on those numbers you would hardly call those people poor. But - drive through some of the neighborhoods in Washington D.C., Atlanta, Detroit, Tampa, Chicago, Philadelphia and then tell me that these people are not poor. Better yet, live in their homes for a year and see how luxurious they have it. Or if you just think they are lazy....try getting a job at $10 an hour and supporting a wife and two kids on it.

Answer 6

The poor in this country are the unfortunate minorities living under the thumb of a theoretically benevolent government. Here's some facts on the 'real' poor.

-They live in areas that are 'red-zoned' by the Dept. of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), a constitutionally illegal federal department that claims to offer affordable (rental) housing for poor people, but really ends up as a way for the government to segregate the poor from the rest of society and ensure that a minimum of funds goes to improving infrastructure and roads in these areas. Of course, if you are against HUD, you're a heartless conservative.

-They live on the front lines of the war on drugs. Not only does this country have more prisoners than any other, we also have four times as many people on probation than we have prisoners. A majority of the prisoners are non-violent, but a majority of people coming out of jail will commit crimes. The demographics don't lie - you're most likely to go to jail for a non-violent offense and going to jail makes people more violent. A lot of times you don't know who's the good guy and who's the bad guy, because at least in my city the police have been caught several times buying and selling drugs in exchange for client lists. Sometimes just for cash. Whatever gets more people in jail and more money in their pockets.

-These people attend public schools in HUD red-zoned neighborhoods. These are the schools where you hear about drive-bys and a lot of other violence. Again, lots of good government promises and lots of government spending & activity, but it only perpetuates the status-quo (perhaps makes things worse).

Those are the poor in America. They have food to eat and shelter, but they are not free because of the government that claims to save them from poverty.

Answer 7

Only in the USA is there 300 lb "poor" people

Go look in the 3rd world to see the truly poor

Answer 8

And all this time I thought that I was middle class and now I discover that I am part of the American poor. Where do I go to get my handouts?

Answer 9

What is your point? do you want the poor in America to be share croppers? Don't forget poor here isn't the same as poor in Africa. The costs here are not the same as say the Philippines. Besides are we not supposed to be an affluent country?

Answer 10

The "American poor" would be middle class by world standards.