Poor still suffering from last recession

[Chris_]

PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - Many of the poorest people in the United States are still struggling to recover from the effects of a recession that ended six years ago, making them very vulnerable as the country stands on the brink of a new downturn.

In 2006, the latest year for which Census Bureau figures are available, 12.3 percent of Americans were living in poverty, compared with 11.7 percent in 2001, the year of the last recession.

Poverty advocates like the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities note that two rounds of tax cuts by Congress during the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush have failed to trickle down to the nation's poor.

Philadelphia's poverty rate, almost twice the national average, is the highest among the 10 largest U.S. cities. For young people under 18, the poverty rate rises to 35.3 percent, while almost a fifth of the city's over 65-year-olds fall below the poverty line. Blacks, about half of the city's overall population, make up almost a third of the poor.

http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSN2241431020080123?pageNumber=1&virtualBrandChannel=0

The US population has increased nearly 6.5% since 2001 with only a 1.4% increase in the number of people at or below the poverty level.  I wonder if the newspaper offered to pay any of the outstanding bills these people have, instead of trying to blame them on Bush.  Of course not; they would have mentioned it if they had.  I noticed the paper did manage to spare some space in the article to campaign for the Democrats. 

[jukin]

and yet there are jobs for 20 million illegal aliens.......................go figure.

[Chris_]

and yet there are jobs for 20 million illegal aliens.......................go figure.

I'd be interested in seeing the effects on property taxes, healthcare, and gas prices if we could get rid of 20 million parasites from our country.

[bijou]

There may be a small number of people who haven't been able to recover from the last recession, but the US is a highly mobile society in terms of moving up the income groups. The bulk of those who remain poor would have been poor at the start and finish of of any 5 year period regardless of prevailing economic circumstances.

[Lauri]

There may be a small number of people who haven't been able to recover from the last recession, but the US is a highly mobile society in terms of moving up the income groups. The bulk of those who remain poor would have been poor at the start and finish of of any 5 year period regardless of prevailing economic circumstances.

this is something talk radio discusses a lot; people move in and out of income brackets quite a lot in their lifetimes.

its just not a static society where people are born at one station and stay there their entire lives...

[Carl]

The unemployment rate here is probably about the average.

If you are unemployed here for any length of time it is either by choice or because a person is unemployable.

[NHSparky]

Of course, they'll never discuss the elephant in the room of WHY those jobs in MI, OH, and elsewhere went away: unions who priced themselves out of the market to the point the jobs went elsewhere either domestically to non-union shops or overseas.  Couple that with people who aren't willing to move to find work, and you start to get the idea.

[Lauri]

The unemployment rate here is probably about the average.

If you are unemployed here for any length of time it is either by choice or because a person is unemployable.

i will admit, we live in a bubble here in seattle; if you know technology, you can make a great living anywhere.

but a family just moved here last year and the mom wanted to do a little sideline job for herself.. just to get out and meet people. she wound up getting a few of our neighbors to use her as a trainer at the local hole in the wall gym.

now she is so busy, she can hardly believe it.

she made her own job out of absolutely nothing.. and she is having to turn people down now..