Business

Poverty in USA on the rise
by Zuzana Zelenakova

It seems that the recession in the US is taking its toll mainly on the poorest and middle-class inhabitants. When a year ago the government issued the first compact and broad review of the recession´s impact on Americans the results showed that the nation´s poverty rose to the level not seen in 11 years, that is 13.2 percent. Also incomes slumped for everybody. And according to the analysts the poverty rate is going to rise continuously throughout this year and the next. As a result, it is only natural, that the gap between the poor and the rich in the United States is widening. "No one should be surprised at the increased disparity," said Richard Freeman, an eco! nomist at Harvard University. "Unemployment hurts normal workers who do not have the golden parachutes the folks at the top have." While the wealthiest Americans may experience downturn in their wages, which is not something to worry about for them most of the time, the poor and the middle-class are losing their jobs and are struggling to make it from one day to another. The median income fell 3.6 percent from 2007 to $50,303 last year, as the Census Bureau informed. Although, there are many that claim the recession is actually over as to this quarter, the annual Census Bureau report regarding poverty, income and health insurance showed that for millions of Americans it would take some extra time to overcome what the recession has inflicted upon them. "We need to have both a growing economy and focused government policies if we're going to make a dent in poverty," said Sheldon Danziger, director of the National Poverty Center at the University of Michigan. Approximately 39.! 8 million people got below the poverty line last year. When we! look in to the past the poverty level was the lowest in 1973, at 11.1 percent.

related story (sgx15508): http://finance.yahoo.com/news/US-income-gap-widens-as-poor-a...

by Zuzana Zelenakova for PocketNews (http://pocketnews.tv)

PocketNews is a new real-time news broadcaster delivering the latest and hottest news right to your pocket ! With global clients who want to be kept up to date, PocketNews is everyone's way of keeping in touch with the World.

posted by Blog TechSource @ 12:24 PM