35 statistics about the working poor in America that will blow your mind…

[RemyG1971]

#1 According to the U.S. Census Bureau, more than 146 million Americans are either “poor” or “low income”.

#2 According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 57 percent of all American children live in a home that is either “poor” or “low income”.

#3 Back in 2007, about 28 percent of all working families were considered to be among “the working poor”.  Today, that number is up to 32 percent even though our politicians tell us that the economy is supposedly recovering.

#4 Back in 2007, 21 million U.S. children lived in “working poor” homes.  Today, that number is up to 23.5 million.

#5 In Arkansas, Mississippi and New Mexico, more than 40 percentall of working families are considered to be “low income”.

#6 Families that have a head of household under the age of 30 have a poverty rate of 37 percent.

#7 Half of all American workers earn $505 or less per week.

#8 At this point, one out of every four American workers has a job that pays $10 an hour or less.

#9 Today, the United States actually has a higher percentage of workers doing low wage work than any other major industrialized nation does.

#10 Median household income in the United States has fallen for four consecutive years.

#11 Median household income for families with children dropped by a whopping $6,300 between 2001 and 2011.

#12 The U.S. economy continues to trade good paying jobs for low paying jobs.  60 percent of the jobs lost during the last recession were mid-wage jobs, but 58 percent of the jobs created since then have been low wage jobs.

#13 Back in 1980, less than 30% of all jobs in the United States were low income jobs.  Today, more than 40% of all jobs in the United States are low income jobs.

#14 According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the middle class is taking home a smaller share of the overall income pie than has ever been recorded before.

#15 There are now 20.2 million Americans that spend more than half of their incomes on housing.  That represents a 46 percent increase from 2001.

#16 Low income families spend about 8.6 percent of their incomes on gasoline.  Other families spend about 2.1 percent.

#17 In 1999, 64.1 percent of all Americans were covered by employment-based health insurance.  Today, only 55.1 percent are covered by employment-based health insurance.

#18 According to one survey, 77 percent of all Americans are now living paycheck to paycheck at least part of the time.

#19 Millions of working poor families in America end up taking on debt in a desperate attempt to stay afloat, but before too long they find themselves in a debt trap that they can never escape.  According to a recent article in the New York Times, the average debt burden for U.S. households that earn $20,000 a year or less “more than doubled to $26,000 between 2001 and 2010“.

#20 In 1989, the debt to income ratio of the average American family was about 58 percent.  Today it is up to 154 percent.

#21 According to the Economic Policy Institute, the wealthiest one percent of all Americans households on average have 288 times the amount of wealth that the average middle class American family does.

#22 In the United States today, the wealthiest one percent of all Americans have a greater net worth than the bottom 90 percent combined.

#23 According to Forbes, the 400 wealthiest Americans have more wealth than the bottom 150 million Americans combined.

#24 The six heirs of Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton have a net worth that is roughly equal to the bottom 30 percent of all Americans combined.

#25 Sadly, the bottom 60 percent of all Americans own just 2.3 percent of all the financial wealth in the United States.

#26 The average CEO now makes approximately 350 times as much as the average American worker makes.

#27 Corporate profits as a percentage of GDP are at an all-time high.  Meanwhile, wages as a percentage of GDP are near an all-time low.

#28 Today, 40 percent of all Americans have $500 or less in savings.

#29 The number of families in the United States living on 2 dollars a day or less more than doubled between 1996 and 2011.

#30 The number of Americans on food stamps has grown from 17 million in the year 2000 to more than 47 million today.

#31 Back in the 1970s, about one out of every 50 Americans was on food stamps.  Today, about one out of every 6.5 Americans is on food stamps.

#32 More than one out of every four children in the United States is enrolled in the food stamp program.

#33 Incredibly, a higher percentage of children is living in poverty in America today than was the case back in 1975.

#34 If you can believe it, the federal government hands out money to 128 million Americans every single month.

#35 Federal spending on welfare has reached nearly a trillion dollars a year, and it is being projected that it will increase by another 80 percent over the next decade.

[Denver Toad]

I know these statistics reflect reality for so many around me. People working two sometimes three jobs just to keep above water. The anger and desperation are palpable at times.

What sucks is during the presidential campaign all we heard was jobs, job,s jobs. Now it nothing but the same old bullshit. My view of Washington and our representatives has moved from annoyance to displeasure, than anger, followed by contempt, now to downright hatred. While I neither support or approve, I understand where the radical throw the bums out by whatever means necessary schemes come from.

When I; a died in the wool - have an Obama family picture on the wall - contributed to both campaigns - worked in the campaign office twice -lifelong liberal considers that perhaps we'd be better off scrapping the entire system; it's a sign of how far we've fallen.

Jobs, jobs, jobs my ass. Status quo, status quo, status quo and give the finger to the people is more like it.

[mecch]

I know these statistics reflect reality for so many around me. People working two sometimes three jobs just to keep above water. The anger and desperation are palpable at times.

What sucks is during the presidential campaign all we heard was jobs, job,s jobs. Now it nothing but the same old bullshit. My view of Washington and our representatives has moved from annoyance to displeasure, than anger, followed by contempt, now to downright hatred. While I neither support or approve, I understand where the radical throw the bums out by whatever means necessary schemes come from.

When I; a died in the wool - have an Obama family picture on the wall - contributed to both campaigns - worked in the campaign office twice -lifelong liberal considers that perhaps we'd be better off scrapping the entire system; it's a sign of how far we've fallen.

Jobs, jobs, jobs my ass. Status quo, status quo, status quo and give the finger to the people is more like it.

I missed the part of the last four years where Obama failed to consider the plight of the working poor.  Isn't Affordable Care Act part of the response?  Please send me the memo you got about how Obama doesn't care and isn't doing anything.

[mitch777]

I really hate to generalize but it always amazes me that there are so many poor living in "red" states that keep voting in Republicans.
I know, I know... the moral compass of organized religion somehow makes some people cling to the "right".
Sad.
I really don't understand how the younger generations are going to make it unless a major shift takes place.
Look at some retirement statistics in relation to poverty.
Another frightening story.

[Denver Toad]

Mech, never said President Obama hasn't done anything. The points the OP listed do not discuss health care. Is the ACA a good thing, perhaps. I'm taking a wait and see attitude. On the surface there is good points. That said, there's a lot of assumptions in the law. Chief of which is cost savings.
We can't forget that costs are costs and the fact that these costs are subsidized by the a law, in this case ACA, doesn't change that. "Affordable" health care must come from changes in the cost and utilization of health care services.The challenge we face is not only subsidizing premiums, but managing the health care related costs that cause the premiums that must be subsidized.

[buginme2]

it always amazes me that there are so many poor living in "red" states that keep voting in Republicans.

ABSOLUTELY.  Whats the matter with Kansas?

[mitch777]

ABSOLUTELY.  Whats the matter with Kansas?

still probably connected to the religious right as well as most western (excluding the coast) states.
"special interests" also play a key role from the Republican view.
big oil=Texas as well as other states.
coal=West Virginia
the false promises of "God+money" from the Repubs keep their flock in line.
on a more positive note...
the younger generation and the influx of minorities help off-set their power.
(their own foot-in-mouth disease that cannot be defended by anyone with logical thought abilities will eventually create change)
it's just frustratingly slow.

[mecch]

Denver
In comparison to its peer countries - rich, post-industrialial, democratic -- The US has to date been falling behind on some living standards that other countries figure are basic garantees - universal health care, living wage, affordable housing, class mobility through affordable higher education.... stuff like this.
Obama took one big lack, and attacked head on to move toward a solution.
I don't think an economy on the verge of collapse had the stomach for the "living wage" movement that needs to take place. I listen to some labor politics pundits and its unclear what the future holds for organized labour and the service economy. Either all these poor children have to be on the dole - OR - the government has to somehow require corps to start paying living wages...  This will be another sea change (like Americans warming up to universal care as a welcome "entitlement") and for the moment I'm not expecting miracles for years to come.  Jobs jobs jobs is  logical mantra in a time of unemployment. The key is NOT to give into Republicans who want more and more working poor and more and more benefits of the service economy paid out in dividends to shareholders, not to employees.

[Miss Philicia]

I'm afraid that unemployment isn't a Democrat or Republican thing. Need I remind everyone that most large developed countries right now have a worse unemployment rate combined with a substantially worse overall GDP growth rate? There were pre-existing issues globalization issues before the Great Recession, and now those have been amplified.