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National Poverty Center

National Poverty Center
How does the United States measure poverty? The United States determines the official poverty rate using poverty thresholds that are issued each year by the Census Bureau. The thresholds represent the annual amount of cash income minimally required to support families of various sizes. The methodology for calculating the thresholds was established in the mid-1960s and has not changed in the intervening years. A family is counted as poor if its pretax money income is below its poverty threshold. A sampling of the poverty thresholds for 2010 is included in the table below. SOURCE: U.S. Poverty guidelines are a simplified version of poverty thresholds and are issued by the Department of Health and Human Services to determine financial eligibility for certain federal programs. How many people were poor in 2010? In 2010, 15.1 percent of all persons lived in poverty. How has poverty changed over time? Since the late 1960s, the poverty rate for people over 65 has fallen dramatically. Related:  Poverty in the US

Poverty Facts and Stats This figure is based on purchasing power parity (PPP), which basically suggests that prices of goods in countries tend to equate under floating exchange rates and therefore people would be able to purchase the same quantity of goods in any country for a given sum of money. That is, the notion that a dollar should buy the same amount in all countries. Hence if a poor person in a poor country living on a dollar a day moved to the U.S. with no changes to their income, they would still be living on a dollar a day. The new poverty line of $1.25 a day was recently announced by the World Bank (in 2008). For many years before that it had been $1 a day. The new figures from the World Bank therefore confirm concerns that poverty has not been reduced by as much as was hoped, although it certainly has dropped since 1981. However, it appears that much of the poverty reduction in the last couple of decades almost exclusively comes from China:

15 Shocking Poverty Statistics That Are Skyrocketing As The American Middle Class Continues To Be Slowly Wiped Out The "America" that so many of us have taken for granted for so many decades is literally disintegrating right in front of our eyes. Most Americans are still operating under the delusion that the United States will always be "the wealthiest nation" in the world and that our economy will always produce large numbers of high paying jobs and that the U.S. will always have a very large middle class. But that is not what is happening. The very foundations of the U.S. economy have rotted away and we now find ourselves on the verge of an economic collapse. On the mainstream news, the American people are treated to endless footage of leaders from both political parties proclaiming that the primary reason that we are in the midst of such an economic mess is because of what the other political party has done. Republicans proclaim that we are experiencing all of this economic chaos because of the Democrats. But do you really want to know who is to blame for our economic problems? Both of them.

Poverty Around The World Author and Page information Introduction What does it mean to be poor? How is poverty measured? Third World countries are often described as “developing” while the First World, industrialized nations are often “developed”. Successful development can imply many things, such as (though not limited to): An improvement in living standards and access to all basic needs such that a person has enough food, water, shelter, clothing, health, education, etc;A stable political, social and economic environment, with associated political, social and economic freedoms, such as (though not limited to) equitable ownership of land and property;The ability to make free and informed choices that are not coerced;Be able to participate in a democratic environment with the ability to have a say in one’s own future;To have the full potential for what the United Nations calls Human Development: Human development is about much more than the rise or fall of national incomes. Back to top Different poverty levels

Understanding Poverty in the U.S. The U.S. Census Bureau’s annual poverty report, released this morning, found that 46.2 million Americans, or one in seven of us, were poor in 2010. The prolonged recession, with its high levels of unemployment, clearly has swollen the ranks of the poor. But high numbers for poverty as defined by the Census Bureau predates the current recession. In most years for the past two decades, in fact, the Census Bureau declared that more than 35 million Americans were “living in poverty.” These figures sound ominous. To the average American, the word “poverty” implies significant material deprivation, an inability to provide a family with adequate nutritious food, reasonable shelter and clothing. Activists reinforce this view, characteristically declaring that to be poor in America means being “unable to obtain the basic material necessities of life.” Half the poor now have a personal computer. In all these cases, U.S. Fortunately, that’s not the case. Let’s look at housing.

Poverty & Crime - Fundamental Finance Poverty and Crime Crime exists everywhere in the United States – in rural and urban areas, in the East and West, and among all types of people. This has led many government officials, especially those in urban areas, to focus largely on the reduction of crime among their respective constituencies and has led others to speculate on the factors that influence the amount of crime and how those factors can be controlled In the US, urban crime is often perceived as a problem amid areas with high poverty levels. Poverty’s effects on crime can be explained through a variety of reasons. Crime offers a way in which impoverished people can obtain material goods that they cannot attain through legitimate means. However, many other factors influence crime and are correlated with poverty as well. Variations in the composition of population can affect crime in different ways. This study first examines how poverty affects crime in the simple regression model. Another study by Jens Ludwig, Greg J.

Poverty Poverty is general scarcity or dearth, or the state of one who lacks a certain amount of material possessions or money.[1] Absolute poverty or destitution refers to the deprivation of basic human needs, which commonly includes food, water, sanitation, clothing, shelter, health care and education. Relative poverty is defined contextually as economic inequality in the location or society in which people live.[2][3] After the industrial revolution, mass production in factories made production goods increasingly less expensive and more accessible. Of more importance is the modernization of agriculture, such as fertilizers, to provide enough yield to feed the population.[4] The supply of basic needs can be restricted by constraints on government services such as corruption, tax avoidance, debt and loan conditionalities and by the brain drain of health care and educational professionals. Etymology The English word "poverty" via Anglo-Norman povert. Measuring poverty Definitions Absolute poverty

2011 HHS Poverty Guidelines [ Latest Poverty Guidelines ] [ Federal Register Notice, January 20, 2011 — Full text ] [ Prior Poverty Guidelines and Federal Register References Since 1982 ] [ Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) ] [ Further Resources on Poverty Measurement, Poverty Lines, and Their History ] [ Computations for the 2011 Poverty Guidelines ] There are two slightly different versions of the federal poverty measure: The poverty thresholds, and The poverty guidelines. The poverty thresholds are the original version of the federal poverty measure. The poverty guidelines are the other version of the federal poverty measure. The poverty guidelines are sometimes loosely referred to as the “federal poverty level” (FPL), but that phrase is ambiguous and should be avoided, especially in situations (e.g., legislative or administrative) where precision is important. Key differences between poverty thresholds and poverty guidelines are outlined in a table under Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs).

Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity Poverty rate rises as incomes decline - Census - Sep. 13 NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Amid a still struggling economy, more people in America fell below the poverty line last year, according to new census data released Tuesday. The nation's poverty rate rose to 15.1% in 2010, its highest level since 1993. In 2009, 14.3% of people in America were living in poverty. "The results are not surprising given the economy," said Paul Osterman, author of "Good Jobs America," and a labor economist at MIT. About 46.2 million people are now considered in poverty, 2.6 million more than last year. The government defines the poverty line as income of $22,314 a year for a family of four and $11,139 for an individual. How the rich became the über rich Middle-class wealth falls: For middle-class families, income fell in 2010. Median income has changed very little over the last 30 years. "Over that period of time, it's not that the American economy has necessarily performed badly," Osterman said. Check the poverty rate in your state Check the uninsured rate in your state

How Bad Are The Public Schools? - Is There A Crisis? | The Battle Over School Choice | FRONTLINE Is there a public education crisis now? Certainly [the word "crisis"] would be applicable in some places. But I think it's a misnomer. I think the real enemy here isn't, quote, "public schools in crisis." That makes good camera-ready copy for somebody's journal. The enemy in my mind isn't this "crisis." Below this conversation about education, we're having a conversation about race and class in America. That's right. The conversation about education, just below the surface, is about standards, and assessment, and curriculum, and so on. When you look, and you ask yourself, what's working in some of those other schools? And that represents one of the good things that are happening in these schools that are working. What you need is some constancy, both in terms of instruction, and in terms of the human resources that are there. So the real issue for me is that you can fix these schools if you really want to hang in and do it. home · what do the candidates say?

Causes of Poverty Author and Page information by Anup ShahThis page last updated Sunday, September 28, 2014 Almost half the world — over 3 billion people — live on less than $2.50 a day.The GDP (Gross Domestic Product) of the 41 Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (567 million people) is less than the wealth of the world’s 7 richest people combined.Nearly a billion people entered the 21st century unable to read a book or sign their names.Less than one per cent of what the world spent every year on weapons was needed to put every child into school by the year 2000 and yet it didn’t happen.1 billion children live in poverty (1 in 2 children in the world). 640 million live without adequate shelter, 400 million have no access to safe water, 270 million have no access to health services. 10.6 million died in 2003 before they reached the age of 5 (or roughly 29,000 children per day). Poverty is the state for the majority of the world’s people and nations. Why is this? Poverty Facts and Stats Poverty Around The World

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