Posted by caraher on September 23, 2005, at 0:33:38
In reply to wealth distribution in the usa, posted by alexandra_k on September 13, 2005, at 21:40:40
Article on the latest income figures for the US... http://www.democraticunderground.com/articles/05/09/21_poverty.html
Some highlights:
"...this marks the first time since the Census Bureau began keeping records that household incomes failed to increase for five consecutive years. Since President Bush took office, the average annual household family income has declined by $2,572, approximately 4.8 percent."
"Although the portion of the total national income going to the bottom 60 percent of families did not increase last year, the portion going to the wealthiest five percent of families rose by 0.4 percent. And while the average inflation-adjusted family income of middle-class Americans declined by 0.7 percent in 2004, the wealthiest five percent of families enjoyed a 1.7 percent increase."
" Not surprisingly, the report revealed that poverty increased last year. There were 37 million (12.7 percent) people living in poverty, an increase of 1.1 million people since 2003. This was the fourth consecutive year in which poverty has increased. In fact, since President Bush took office, 5.4 million more people, including 1.4 million children, have found themselves living in poverty. There were 7.9 million families living below the poverty level in 2004, an increase of 300,000 families since 2003."
poster:caraher
thread:554838
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/poli/20050728/msgs/558393.html