The 'regular depression' for average Americans continues while the top tier of the rich thrive.
"... real median household income in 2010 was $49,445, down 2.3% from the prior year ... 46.2 million people in poverty in 2010 was the largest group for the 52 years ... people in poverty rose for the fourth consecutive year as the poverty rate climbed to 15.1% ... "
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(MarketWatch) — A record number of people were in poverty last year as households saw their income decrease, according to data released by the Census Bureau Tuesday demonstrating the weakness of the economy even after the recession ended.
The 46.2 million people in poverty in 2010 was the largest group for the 52 years that estimates have been published, and the number of people in poverty rose for the fourth consecutive year as the poverty rate climbed to 15.1% — the highest since 1993 — up from 14.3% in 2009.
Meanwhile, real median household income in 2010 was $49,445, down 2.3% from the prior year. Those with health insurance ticked higher to 256.2 million from 255.3 million in 2009.
“I would frame this report as giving us a look at whether the so-called recovery that started in June 2009 has had any widespread benefits for American families,” said Larry Katz, a labor economist at Harvard University.
Economists say the recession ended in 2009, but employment remained weak in 2010, with a national employment gain of only about 940,000 jobs, less than half the growth in the civilian population that’s outside prisons and the military. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate remained elevated, declining to 9.4% by the end of 2010 from a peak of 10.1% in 2009.
While the data released Tuesday paint a grim picture, the results could have been even worse without government benefits such as extended unemployment insurance that were “pretty good at plugging some holes in the safety net and preventing even more people from falling into poverty,” said Harry Holzer, a public policy professor at Georgetown University.
Still, times are likely to be tough for a while, said Edwin Park, vice president for health policy at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
“Looking ahead, poverty seems unlikely to improve because of the way the economic is going,” Park said. “State and local governments are retrenching, cutting spending, which will slow economic growth.”
For 2010 the poverty threshold for a four-person family, including two kids, was about $22,000. The official definition of poverty excludes certain benefits, such as food stamps and housing assistance.
Private insurance covered about 64% of people in 2010, down from about 64.5% in the prior year, with such coverage trending down since 2001. Those covered by government insurance rose to 31% from 30.6%. In 2010 about 9.8% of children under 18 were not insured.
www.marketwatch.com/story/record-....dips-2011-09-13====================================================
SCREWFLATION: everything the ‘average American family’ buys goes up in price and everything they own goes down in value. Taxes, fees, charges, special assessment districts from State, Local, etc governments will rise while services from them will decrease. 50 California cities have ‘crash taxes’ charging to respond to car incidents plus ambulance charges. Energy expenses for homes, cars, electricity will rise compounded by additional taxes and fees. Food prices will rise. Health care/insurance expenses will rise over 10%. College Tuition will rise 5 to 15%. Mortgage/house payments will rise because interest rates will rise. Rents will rise as demand will increase because the rate of evict/repossessing house owners will speed up forcing families to rent that currently have not been paying their mortgages. The ‘average American family’ wealth will decline as saving become exhausted because of the end of jobless benefits for those exceeding 99 weeks grows. The ‘average American family’ wealth will decline for those still owning their homes because house prices will continue to decline. Food Stamp use will make new records every period. I prefer screwflation over stagflation because of the regressive impact on middle and lower class families' standard of living and that they have no investments that rise with inflation or money printing and in fact usually have their wealth tied up in declining or negative home equity while the upper 20% of earners usually have investments that will rise in 2011 outside of their home equity. Screwflation is my top 2011 topic because its 2011 increase impacts the most Americans even while joblessness will grow on a percentage basis.
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