1 in 2 people are poor or low-income in USA...is this really true?

Do you feel that this article is true:

http://news.yahoo.com/census-shows-1-2-people-poor-low-income-054325860.html

Is every second American really struggling to make ends meet?

 

Its true because some Americans don't even know how a Rib Eye Steak taste.

 

Its true! Before long, they won't even be able to afford a second TV and an X-Box.

 

I would say so. It seems illogical that that would be the case in such a wealthy nation in relation to so many other nations, but in reality, most of the wealth is in the top 1% to 25% of people. I think I read somewhere that half of Americans make less than $40,000 a year which when you think about that after taxes is around $30,000 bring home. That works out to about $2400 a month. With a house payment or rent, car payment, insurance, food, high price of gasonline/diesel, and other costs, there's hardly anything left for saving, much less retirement. In fact, I'd have to make over $40,000 to live decently.

I suppose if you live in a very small house barely big enough for you, that you could make it ok. Things just cost so much at every turn with inflation driving prices higher and higher. As to the poor, I think like 20% make less than $25,000 per year which if you have a family is straight poverty.

 

It's been true for a few centuries. There are always many more poor than there are wealthy, and the middle class has been shrinking again due to accumulation of wealth (the same as the 1930s). Is it only in America? No, in many countries 98% of the population isn't rich enough to eat every day.

 

Yes. I remember when I set up a business in the US, the poverty line was $42,000/year. So yes, 1 on 2 is poor...

 

Yep a lot of them are poor but somehow they still manage to buy another car and another laptop once every 3 to 6 months . It's a strange kind of poor .

 

Yes, more and more Americans are becoming homeless as well.

 

They cannot even afford to live in the ghetto due to the economic crisis.

 

It's the American way to be poor. And yes they eat out too and have a $100-150 a month cable bill.

 

Well, yeah, that's the american poverty. What did you expect?
A poor in the US is richer than 98% of the other countries riches...

 

I'm not saying that i'm saying that even if they make only 800 per month for each family member they still manage to pull it off , work some magic and score some nice stuff . A sucky life but with some awesome moments . I guess it's better to be poor in the USA then to be rich in Pakistan or something like that .

 

This is the kind of places they move to:

 

Even the poorest American with his DVD, TV, highspeed cable, prepaid rent, food stamps, etc is richer than the richest in many nations. That is not to say that the poor in America are not hurting. But if they were really poor, they would be dying of starvation like the rest of the world.

 

Thr povery level this year for a family of eight is only $37,630 (in the 48 contiguous states). For a "family" of one it's $10,890.

Haven't been in the ghetto much, I see.

Can't argue with that, though. Most people in the US, rich or poor, eat at least once a day. Many in developing nations who aren't poor - for the area in which they live - don't have such luxury. Even fairly clean water is something they get very rarely.

 

I believe it. The government is trying to ease this up a bit by saying the unemployment rate is going down. What people don't understand is that even though people have jobs again, they are lesser paying jobs.

 

I am the ghetto. I can't afford a TV, DVD, highspeed internet, etc. However, I do eat every day like most Americans and I do have access to cleaner than average water (public water with no added poisons like Flourides and Chlorides). And I am not one of the millions of pigs on welfare.

 

Credit or cash? ...buying stuff you cant pay back is called being poor...granted the US has a different standard what it considers poor but living on credit is hardly wealth...

 

I don't think it mattes since they keep doing this until the end of their lives and when they're not shopping they're on a trip to the end of the world .

 

About 1 in 4 Americans or something on the order of 80 million Americans have a net worth of LESS THAN ZERO!!! And most of the reason is because of debt.