More Americans find aging is a gateway to poverty
Over the last several years, more Americans have found that aging has left them in the clutch of poverty. Between 2005 and 2009, the rate of poverty among American seniors rose as they aged, as did the number of people entering poverty, according to a new report from the nonpartisan Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI).
Poverty rates fell in the first half of the last decade for almost all age groups of older Americans (defined as age 50 or older) but increased since 2005 for every age group. Says Sudipto Banerjee, EBRI research associate and author of the report:
As people age, personal savings and pension account balances are depleted, and as people age, their medical expenditures tend to increase.
Compounding the problem, the odds of suffering a health condition – acute or otherwise – goes up 45-55 percent for those below the poverty line, he said.
Poverty rates, as defined by U.S. Census poverty thresholds, were highest for the oldest of the elderly. Almost 15 percent of Americans older than age 85 were in poverty in 2009, compared with approximately 10.5 percent of those older than 65, EBRI found. Additionally, in 2009, 6 percent of those age 85 or older were new entrants in poverty. Banerjee adds:
The rising poverty rates also correspond to the two economic recessions that occurred during the last decade.
Poverty rates for women were nearly double that of men for almost all years in the survey period. For example, in 2009, poverty rates were 7 percent for men and 13 percent for women. More than 1 in 5 (20.9 percent) single women over age 65 lived in poverty in 2009. The EBRI report found that in 2009, the poverty rate for Hispanics was 21 percentage points higher than for whites. For blacks it was 17 percentage points higher than for whites.
Growth not enough to ease inequality: Oxfam
Rising income inequality in rich nations has cast doubt on the old adage, often upheld by the economics profession, that a rising tide lifts all boats. A new report from Oxfam reinforces the notion that wealth does not trickle down of its own accord. The anti-poverty advocacy group says sometimes actively redistributive policies may be needed to address huge income gaps. It also says that, contrary to conventional economic thinking, such policies will directly contribute to better growth rather than impede it.
Inequality, often viewed as an inevitable result of economic progress, in fact acts as a brake on growth. Among the best ways to assure inclusive, sustainable growth and fight poverty, finds the study, are policies that reduce inequality. […]
Inequality erodes the social fabric, and severely limits individuals’opportunities to escape poverty. Where income inequality is high or growing, the evidence is clear that economic growth has significantly less impact on poverty: a trickle-down approach does not work.
The report notes that the United States is the most unequal of the world’s wealthy nations – but that’s old news. More interesting is the finding that even strong rates of growth will not be enough to lift more people out of poverty over the next decade, particularly in the less wealthy G20 nations. The report found that inequality increased in 14 of 18 G20 countries since 1990 despite rapid rates of growth in some countries. Oxfam recommends the following:
The exact policy mix should be tailored to each national context, but policies in successful developing countries suggest the following starting points:
- Redistributive transfers
- Investment in universal access to health and education
- Progressive taxation
- Removal of the barriers to equal rights and opportunities for women
- Reforming land ownership, ensuring the right access to land and other resources, and investing in small-scale food producers
What kinds of redistribution would this involve? Oxfam turns to the United Nations’ Economic Council for Latin America and the Caribbean for answers:
ECLAC suggests that cash transfer programs in Latin America typically have three objectives:
- To alleviate poverty through direct income transfers
- To provide incentives for investment in human capacity-building
- To bring the target population into the social protection and promotion networks
Politically impossible? Perhaps. But Oxfam says some countries have already taken some steps successfully, with impressive results.
Martin Luther King’s vampire squid: poverty
The devastating U.S. recession of 2008-2009 has highlighted the problems of income inequality and poverty in the world’s richest nation. In 2010, the last year for which data is available, the number of U.S. poor hit a record 46 million. As the country celebrates the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday, a look back at the civil rights’ leaders remarks on the subject are enlightening – if only for their continue relevance nearly half a century later:
(One) evil which plagues the modern world is that of poverty. Like a monstrous octopus, it projects its nagging, prehensile tentacles in lands and villages all over the world. Almost two-thirds of the peoples of the world go to bed hungry at night. They are undernourished, ill-housed, and shabbily clad. Many of them have no houses or beds to sleep in. Their only beds are the sidewalks of the cities and the dusty roads of the villages. Most of these poverty-stricken children of God have never seen a physician or a dentist. This problem of poverty is not only seen in the class division between the highly developed industrial nations and the so-called underdeveloped nations; it is seen in the great economic gaps within the rich nations themselves.
Take my own country for example. We have developed the greatest system of production that history has ever known. We have become the richest nation in the world. Our national gross product this year will reach the astounding figure of almost 650 billion dollars. Yet, at least one-fifth of our fellow citizens – some ten million families, comprising about forty million individuals – are bound to a miserable culture of poverty. In a sense the poverty of the poor in America is more frustrating than the poverty of Africa and Asia. The misery of the poor in Africa and Asia is shared misery, a fact of life for the vast majority; they are all poor together as a result of years of exploitation and underdevelopment. In sad contrast, the poor in America know that they live in the richest nation in the world, and that even though they are perishing on a lonely island of poverty they are surrounded by a vast ocean of material prosperity. Glistening towers of glass and steel easily seen from their slum dwellings spring up almost overnight. Jet liners speed over their ghettoes at 600 miles an hour; satellites streak through outer space and reveal details of the moon.
[…]
So it is obvious that if man is to redeem his spiritual and moral “lag”, he must go all out to bridge the social and economic gulf between the “haves” and the “have nots” of the world. Poverty is one of the most urgent items on the agenda of modern life.
[…]
There is no deficit in human resources; the deficit is in human will. The well-off and the secure have too often become indifferent and oblivious to the poverty and deprivation in their midst. The poor in our countries have been shut out of our minds, and driven from the mainstream of our societies, because we have allowed them to become invisible. Just as nonviolence exposed the ugliness of racial injustice, so must the infection and sickness of poverty be exposed and healed – not only its symptoms but its basic causes. This, too, will be a fierce struggle, but we must not be afraid to pursue the remedy no matter how formidable the task.
The time has come for an all-out world war against poverty. The rich nations must use their vast resources of wealth to develop the underdeveloped, school the unschooled, and feed the unfed. Ultimately a great nation is a compassionate nation. No individual or nation can be great if it does not have a concern for ‘the least of these’. Deeply etched in the fiber of our religious tradition is the conviction that men are made in the image of God and that they are souls of infinite metaphysical value, the heirs of a legacy of dignity and worth. If we feel this as a profound moral fact, we cannot be content to see men hungry, to see men victimized with starvation and ill health when we have the means to help them. The wealthy nations must go all out to bridge the gulf between the rich minority and the poor majority.
America’s poverty trap tightens its grip
U.S. poverty is becoming increasingly concentrated both geographically and racially, according to a new study from the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland. The authors find that while the poverty rate has moved up and down in a relatively narrow range over the last 40 years, mostly mirroring the ups and downs of the economy, that a deeper look at the data reveals some disturbing trends.
The data we have examined indicate that the share of Americans living in high-poverty neighborhoods increased between 1970 and 2000. And we have found that an individual’s poverty status or race is highly predictive of the neighborhood poverty rate they will experience.
The findings also suggest blacks and Hispanics have been disproportionately affected. The concentration is likely to further limit opportunities for escaping poverty, the authors say:
Because it is likely that neighborhoods are one of the factors that shape individuals’ opportunities, we might be concerned with how neighborhood poverty impacts outcomes. For example, we might ask: If the next Bill Gates or Warren Buffett were to grow up in a neighborhood of concentrated poverty, would their talents be utilized?
from MuniLand:
The forgotten American homeless
CBS's 60 Minutes showed a heartbreaking story last night that described several homeless families with children in Florida. The segment, entitled "Hard Times Generation: Families living in cars" (embedded above), detailed families living at the absolute edge of economic survival as they slept in their cars, in hotel rooms and with neighbors. In a deflating economy with few available jobs, they are the invisible underbelly. Big kudos to 60 Minutes for bringing their plight to our attention.
In 1933, a freshly inaugurated Franklin D. Roosevelt addressed a paralyzed nation with the following words:
More important, a host of unemployed citizens face the grim problem of existence, and an equally great number toil with little return. Only a foolish optimist can deny the dark realities of the moment.
Yet our distress comes from no failure of substance. We are stricken by no plague of locusts. Compared with the perils which our forefathers conquered because they believed and were not afraid, we have still much to be thankful for.
By global standards, America is very rich, but we need to ask if our priorities are in the right place. In June 2011 the Florida Council on Homelessness issued their annual report to the governor and legislature. They reported (page 3):
Floridians face a short-term crisis today, and need our help now.
*49,117 school-aged children were identified as homeless in the 2009-2010 school year in our state; this indicates a 19% increase from 2008-2009.
*Florida has the third highest number of homeless persons by state in our country, with over 58,000 persons homeless on any given day
*12,240 military veterans were homeless in Florida in 2009, ranking Florida second in the country for the number of homeless veterans.
Generally, support for the homeless is funded at the local and state levels. These funds are distributed as grants to non-profit organizations who provide direct services. Funding has always lagged need, especially as the economy has continued to stagnate. The Florida Council on Homelessness reported that a total of $300 million was spent in 2010, with about $85 million of that coming from federal grants. But the state of Florida only allocated $8.4 million to staff the Department of Children and Families Homelessness program (page 22) and make pass-through grants to local organizations.
When will we prosecute the criminals who got those families here, both in the government for making such rules that allowed the financial fraud to flourish and the criminals outside it who took advantage of the system that creates a situation where families get into such poverty levels through no fault of their own.
When will we help the homeless and other families in need instead of bailing out the financial institutions and saving the financial industry elite who caused this?
Protesters converge to press anti-poverty message
Police threaded through a growing throng of demonstrators gathering in a downtown Toronto Park on Friday to demand G20 countries do more to fight global poverty and protect woman’s gender rights.
As the number of protesters grew under Canada’s trademark leafy maple trees, pro bono lawyers announced their phone numbers and told protesters to write them down on their hands or arms.
“If you get arrested, call us before you talk to police,” they told the crowd as nervous young women scribbled on their forearms.
Thousands of protesters are in Toronto from across the nation and the world, converging to press anti-poverty agendas with leaders attending the Group of 20 and G8 summits in Toronto and Huntsville, two hours to the north.
Key among their demands to the world’s richest nations was for G8 leaders to respect promises made a decade ago to reduce maternal mortality that sees 350,000 women die in childbirth every year.
Among the props decorated for the protest were three coffins, their sides covered in metal coat-hangers in a protest against illegal abortions that kill women every day in developing nations.
Given the indifference of the Congress to the unemployed in the US, those without jobs should probably consider immigration to other countries — the job losses in the US are permanent, and clearly the US has no means to restore the jobs that have been lost — such is life…
Oxfam to G8: Act now on global poverty, maternal health
He has starred in such blockbuster films as Pirates of the Caribbean, as well as the upcoming Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, but actor Bill Nighy’s heart is set on his real life role as an ambassador for Oxfam.
Flanked by representatives from poor and developing nations from Africa and South America, Nighy was in Toronto on Thursday to ask global leaders gathering for the G8/G20 meetings this week to keep the promises they made a decade ago to reduce maternal mortality rates by 75 percent before 2015.
Nighy was fresh off the plane from Kenya, where he saw children competing with dogs to find scraps of food in garbage dumps. In some cases small girls are forced to sell their bodies for sex to dump kingpins who control areas with the best pickings, an emotional Nighy told reporters.
“If any banker had come with me to Kenya yesterday, I don’t think they’d be reaching so quickly for their bonus cheques,” said Nighy, who stars in a commercial being aired by Oxfam, a global group of organizations advocating for relief of poverty and its causes.
In the commercial, Nighy plays a reluctant bank executive being interviewed on the merits of the so-called Robin Hood Tax, which proposes a global, 0.05 percent tax on financial transactions to raise funds for poverty relief.
The tax has been embraced by some as an easy way to raise hundreds of billions in relief capital for the poor, while some countries have opposed it as a bank tax that is unjust.
from FaithWorld:
U.S. Catholic CEO responds to Benedict’s economic encyclical
Pope Benedict's encyclical "Charity in Truth" proposed a sweeping reform of the world economic system from one based on the profit motive to one based on solidarity and concern for the common good. Like other such documents in the Roman Catholic Church's social teaching tradition, the encyclical delivers a strong critique of unbridled capitalism. This can be uncomfortable for Catholics who champion free enterprise and some conservative Catholic writers reacted quickly and critically. One of them, George Weigel, wrote the encyclical "resembles a duck-billed platypus."
We wanted to hear the views of a Catholic executive, one who's involved in business rather than reacting from the sidelines. So I called Frank Keating, president and chief executive officer of the American Council of Life Insurers (ACLI). The former Republican governor of Oklahoma (1995-2003) is a former chairman of the National Catholic Review Board, which he said "sought to identify and correct the horror of sexual abuse on the part of the clergy." He is a Knight of Malta and a Knight of the Holy Sepulchre.
DB: What's your overall reaction to the encyclical?
FK:"I haven't read the 30,000 words but I think what the pope is proposing is not inconsistent with other papal messages. The common denominator to all of them is the worth of the individual, the dignity of every human person. So Benedict XVI focuses on the right to life, he speaks against euthanasia, he speaks against the evil of abortion, he speaks against cloning. But at the same time he talks about duties and responsibilities to the vulnerable because the vulnerable are dignified human beings as well as those who are rich and powerful.
"So to exploit someone in a capitalist society is, according to Benedict, inapropriate and contrary to Catholic moral teaching. But for me as a free market capitalist, I see in this statement also the right for me to determine my destiny. In other words, if I wish to work for the state I should be able to do so. If I wish to found a small business, I should be able to do so. A dignified, independent mortal soul, a caring individual should be able to determine their own destiny.
"There is a little bit for the left, support for unions, support for protection of the globe against waste, but there is also something I think for the free market advocates in the Church, because if you are an independent creature with a unique personality based upon, obviously, the immortality of your soul, you should be able to work or not work as your decision. I think there is a little bit for everyone." DB: What do you think about Benedict's call for a "world political authority" to manage the global economy?
FK: "I think it is impractical to suggest that sovereign nations will surrender on the one hand a free market economy or on the other hand a socialist economy or completely managed or disintigrating economy as you would have for example in a place like Zimbabwe, or places like that which are utterly dysfunctional. I don't think he would suggest that those economies that work surrender what works to those that don't work and be managed by some supernational group that would impoverish everybody. I think what he's talking about.
