INCREASING POVERTY?
 
I'm sure to be accused of being hard-hearted for writing this, but I'm tired of hearing gross misinformation about the reasons for our numerous "crises". Here is one example.

Rarely does a month go by without me reading or hearing that poverty in the U.S. is increasing, accompanied by the dire results brought on by the increase.

The problem is that poverty is not increasing in the U.S. In fact, quite the opposite is true. For decades, the "poverty level" measurement has been modified frequently. The modifications invariably identify more people as being in poverty. Even with the modifications, the percentage in poverty has stayed the same or fallen.

Using tax return statistics is a poor way to identify poverty, but that's how we do it. The average family in the bottom 20% spends $2.00 to $2.30 cents for every $1.00 they have in income. While a small portion of those are people spending their savings, most simply have more sources of money than are reported on their tax returns.

In 1970, almost 30% of African-American families below the poverty level lacked some plumbing facilities in their homes. In 2000, that figure was less than 3%.

In spite of those "in poverty" being much better off now than in the past, the numbers "in poverty" have fallen, not risen. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the poverty rates in the U.S. from 1980 through 2006 were:

2006 12.3
2005 12.6
2004 12.7
2003 12.5
2002 12.1
2001 11.7
2000 11.3
1999 11.9
1998 12.7
1997 13.3
1996 13.7
1995 13.8
1994 14.5
1993 15.1
1992 14.8
1991 14.2
1990 13.5
1989 12.8
1988 13.0
1987 13.4
1986 13.6
1985 14.0
1984 14.4
1983 15.2
1982 15.0
1981 14.0
1980 13.0