C
CHANDRU1849
Guest
An article by Mr M C Madhavan, Professor, Economics and Asian Studies, San Diego State Unviersity, on the measurement and nature of poverty in the U.S, published in The Hindu dated Jan 29, 2015 (page no. 11), under the caption ‘Poverty and Electoral Priorities’ has given interesting insight about USA.
Given below is a gist of the article:
QUOTE
Basis of Measurement
Most in India will have difficulty in understanding poverty in the U.S., where the measurement and nature of poverty are very different from what people in India generally associate the term ‘poverty’ with.
The poverty line in the U.S. is estimated on the basis of income necessary to have enough food, clothing, shelter and other necessities of life.
A family of four is considered to be living below the poverty line if its income isles than $23,850 per annum. If you multiple this with the existing foreign exchange rate of 61.59, it will be over Rs.14 lakh. My friend is Chennai tells me ‘you must be kidding’.
Using this definition, the poverty rate in 2013 was estimated at 15.4 per cent and the number of people living below the poverty line was over 46 million – one out of seven persons in the U.S. is poor.
Categorizing the poor
Who are these poor people? U.S. Census Bureau data indicate that nearly 20.5 million poor people are White, 12.5 million are Hispanic, 10.2 million are African-American, 1.9 million Asian and Pacific Islanders, and about 7,00,000 Native Americans. Relative poverty is more among Native. Hispanic and African-Americans (poverty rates ranging between 24.9 per cent and 28.3 per cent) and less among Whites (10.6) and Asians (12.50). More women than men, more people under 189 years of age than working age groups and more people with less than high school education than others with higher education, are poor.
When I came to U.S. in 1960, poverty was not visible, now it is being covered by the media for all to see.
UNQUOTE
It seems that Americans are not really struggling for food, shelter, clothing etc., as in the case of Indians, and they are reasonably affluent, covering all communities.
Given below is a gist of the article:
QUOTE
Basis of Measurement
Most in India will have difficulty in understanding poverty in the U.S., where the measurement and nature of poverty are very different from what people in India generally associate the term ‘poverty’ with.
The poverty line in the U.S. is estimated on the basis of income necessary to have enough food, clothing, shelter and other necessities of life.
A family of four is considered to be living below the poverty line if its income isles than $23,850 per annum. If you multiple this with the existing foreign exchange rate of 61.59, it will be over Rs.14 lakh. My friend is Chennai tells me ‘you must be kidding’.
Using this definition, the poverty rate in 2013 was estimated at 15.4 per cent and the number of people living below the poverty line was over 46 million – one out of seven persons in the U.S. is poor.
Categorizing the poor
Who are these poor people? U.S. Census Bureau data indicate that nearly 20.5 million poor people are White, 12.5 million are Hispanic, 10.2 million are African-American, 1.9 million Asian and Pacific Islanders, and about 7,00,000 Native Americans. Relative poverty is more among Native. Hispanic and African-Americans (poverty rates ranging between 24.9 per cent and 28.3 per cent) and less among Whites (10.6) and Asians (12.50). More women than men, more people under 189 years of age than working age groups and more people with less than high school education than others with higher education, are poor.
When I came to U.S. in 1960, poverty was not visible, now it is being covered by the media for all to see.
UNQUOTE
It seems that Americans are not really struggling for food, shelter, clothing etc., as in the case of Indians, and they are reasonably affluent, covering all communities.
