Older, Suburban and Struggling, ‘Near Poor’ Startle the Census - NYT frontpage

[Bozita]

Frontpage below the fold in the Saturday print edition.


Older, Suburban and Struggling, ‘Near Poor’ Startle the Census
By JASON DePARLE, ROBERT GEBELOFF and SABRINA TAVERNISE
Published: November 18, 2011


WASHINGTON — They drive cars, but seldom new ones. They earn paychecks, but not big ones. Many own homes. Most pay taxes. Half are married, and nearly half live in the suburbs. None are poor, but many describe themselves as barely scraping by.

Down but not quite out, these Americans form a diverse group sometimes called “near poor” and sometimes simply overlooked — and a new count suggests they are far more numerous than previously understood.

When the Census Bureau this month released a new measure of poverty, meant to better count disposable income, it began altering the portrait of national need. Perhaps the most startling differences between the old measure and the new involves data the government has not yet published, showing 51 million people with incomes less than 50 percent above the poverty line. That number of Americans is 76 percent higher than the official account, published in September. All told, that places 100 million people — one in three Americans — either in poverty or in the fretful zone just above it.

After a lost decade of flat wages and the worst downturn since the Great Depression, the findings can be thought of as putting numbers to the bleak national mood — quantifying the expressions of unease erupting in protests and political swings. They convey levels of economic stress sharply felt but until now hard to measure.

more...
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/19/us/census-measures-those-not-quite-in-poverty-but-struggling.html?_r=1&hpw

[Vincardog]

1. The increase in the number of near poor are a surprise to WHO?

[raccoon]

14. I'd say, all those who have their heads up their arses. nt

[xchrom]

2. recommend

[RainDog]

3. k&r n/t

[WillyT]

4. K & R !!!

:kick:

[femrap]

5. Working 40 hours

per week, but employer says she is part-time so no benefits. Makes me sick.:puke:

Why don't these employers just come right out and say it: "We want to return to slavery and exploitation."

Now I have a headache. Need to take a walk and reduce my stress levels...since health care is a privilege, not a fundamental right.

And now I'm too fucking old to get the American Dream in Denmark. Shit on the Greedy.

edit for spelling

[spooky3]

6. I have a family member in this category who votes Republican.

She feels stress from this but misdirects the reaction. She attempts to control other family members and lashes out irrationally at the rest of us, including looking for ugly motives behind our offers of help even when she accepts them (we learn after acceptance about her suspicions). Have grown to be resigned, sadly, that no one but her can do anything about this and to set limits on the interactions.

[MedicalAdmin]

12. That's sad.

What you are describing is illness.

[spooky3]

13. I think you're right.

A health care professional I consulted suggested borderline personality disorder, but of course can't diagnose without talking directly with the family member. Ironically, she regularly took her kids to counseling when they were younger but apparently didn't get it herself. The HCP I spoke with said BPDs are among the hardest clients to reach/treat.

I try to keep contact independently with her kids, who are young adults. The best I can do...

Thanks for your comment.

Sorry to hijack attention from the points made by the article itself.

I meant to agree that this is a very stressful existence for people who are in near-poverty, there are a ton of them out there, and the situation also affects others who have the good fortune not to be in near-poverty. And, I wanted to point out that some of these individuals vote against their own bests interests, as with many other examples pointed out here at DU. Blows my mind.

[FredStembottom]

7. This STILL doesn't get to the full truth.

I have been in the same industry for 37 years. My hourly wage-rate is essentially the same as 20 years ago! About 3% increase in those years. For 9 years my wage was frozen in place. And this was during the boom-boom 90's!
The younger guys under me are on a """merit-based""" pay system that was instituted after I topped out. They will never reach even my wage.

I can't take these "Gosh, I guess it kinda is bad out ther" articles - coming soooo late and feebly.


:argh:

[Sherman A1]

9. Precisely

I agree that it is too little too late, but it's a start and for that I will acknowledge that it is that.

[FredStembottom]

10. I'm sure I will, too.

I'm that kinda reasoned person.

But... I need to be mad first. Just to withstand it all.

[Doctor_J]

8. Another demographic that Obama could have locked in for the Dems

biggest wasted opportunity in history

[zalinda]

11. What is amazing is that OWS seems to have

started the conversation. Would the census bureau have even considered these 'near poor' six months ago? And I doubt if the Times would have published this report in an article, on it's own. Maybe they would have stuck it in some article where it could get overlooked, but here it stands for everyone to see. Great news!

zalinda