US census data on poverty
Snip:
The computer has surpassed the dishwasher as a standard household appliance. The poorest Americans have posted a sharp rise in access to air conditioning. The richest Americans still own the most cars, but they are choosing to own slightly fewer of them than they used to.With regard to computers, the percentage of households with one grew from 20% in 1992 to nearly 60% in 2002. That is impressive growth. (With regard to the 2002 level, the US is pretty much smack dab in the middle of OECD countries.) But this excerpt says it all:
"In terms of the items people have ... it amazes me the number of people who are at or near the poverty line that have color TVs, cable, washer, dryer, microwave," says Michael Cosgrove, an economist at the University of Dallas in Irving, Texas. That's not to ignore the hardships of poverty, he adds, "but the conveniences they have are in fact pretty good."Go read it. Link
posted by david burnstein at 10:10 AM
2 Comments:
Israeli government agency, in bitching that around 20% of Israeli citizens had income that was less than half that of the median income, listed other nations and the per cent of its citizens with incomes less than half the median. Sweden and Germany were 1st and 2nd, both less than 10 %, the U.S., 7th with nearly 20% of us with incomes less than half the median. Still enough to buy a appliances I guess.
His finding isn't really all that unexpected, is it? If he were to review studies from the past in other countries and in the US, I am sure that he would discover similar findings. I'm not sure why the author was stunned. It seems to me that he's condescending to make a value judgement on how folks should/shouldn't spend their money (i.e., implying that if he were poor, how would he spend his money vs. how most folks who really are poor choose to spend their money). My hunch is the author's income puts him well above the poverty line, and since he lives in such a comfort zone, he is willing to comment on such findings (much to his own chagrin).
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