Poverty in America

As the late Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan famously said, “Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his own facts.” To get the facts on poverty in America, we suggest that you visit the website of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, which has lots of details. For example:

In November 2011, the U.S. Census Bureau announced a new supplemental poverty measure (SPM) that with different measures of both economic resources and living costs. New adjustments take into account federal food, housing and energy subsidies, as well as additional costs including payroll taxes, medical out-of-pocket expenses, and work related expenses such as child care.

By the SPM measure:

- Child poverty in 2010 declined to 13.6 million

- The total number of those in poverty increased to 49 million.  

- The poverty rate among seniors rose from 9% to 15.9% based on medical expenses.  

- The poverty rate among working age adults stayed relatively the same, 15.1% to 15.2%.

By the way, the site includes links to the sources of their information.