Friday, November 11, 2011
Friday, September 23, 2011
Those poor Americans
The United States of America may be he land of the free but it appears living is not easy, even in the worlds sole superpower.
A recent report entitled, "Income, Poverty and Health Insurance Coverage in the United Sates, 2010" issued by the US Census Bureau; the number of Americans living below the poverty line is estimated to have reached 46.2 million by the end of 2010 from 43.6 million in 2009.
This means that the rate of poverty in that country stood at 15 percent in 2010; the highest level since 1993.
This increase in poverty numbers is tied to the increasing number of people without health insurance; a decline of 2.3 percent in household incomes, as well as high unemployment levels (exceeding 9 percent).
The number of uninsured people has increased to 49.9 million from 49 million in 2009. These people had to bear their health care costs which made them poorer and thus pushed up the poverty figures.
Adding to the poverty figures is the fact that the group of people between the ages of 15 and 24 years; that constitute about 15 percent of the total population, experienced the largest decline in household incomes, averaging about 9.3 percent.
This dilemma is complicated further given the fact that younger segments of the population have lower savings, but higher obligations such as outstanding college loans.
Diminishing growth rate and increasing job deficit are diminishing chances of improvement in poverty numbers. The deficit and debt problems faced by the government are putting the federal and state government assistance programs into jeopardy; limiting their ability to help millions of people avoid poverty.
Analysts estimate that there are 6.9 million fewer jobs today, than there were at the start of the Great Recession. Adding together the jobs lost and the new jobs needed due to the increases in population; the job deficit reaches around 11.3 million. To fill this gap by 2014, around 400,000 jobs will have to be created every month. At the moment, only around 35,000 are being created, each month.
The only silver lining is Obamas $450 billion job creation package which is yet to be approved. Economists believe that this package, like others would act more like a sedative than a stimulus, and that unemployment would rise in coming years. Consequently government would have to make serious policy changes to improve poverty levels in the long term.
This means that the rate of poverty in that country stood at 15 percent in 2010; the highest level since 1993.
This increase in poverty numbers is tied to the increasing number of people without health insurance; a decline of 2.3 percent in household incomes, as well as high unemployment levels (exceeding 9 percent).
The number of uninsured people has increased to 49.9 million from 49 million in 2009. These people had to bear their health care costs which made them poorer and thus pushed up the poverty figures.
Adding to the poverty figures is the fact that the group of people between the ages of 15 and 24 years; that constitute about 15 percent of the total population, experienced the largest decline in household incomes, averaging about 9.3 percent.
This dilemma is complicated further given the fact that younger segments of the population have lower savings, but higher obligations such as outstanding college loans.
Diminishing growth rate and increasing job deficit are diminishing chances of improvement in poverty numbers. The deficit and debt problems faced by the government are putting the federal and state government assistance programs into jeopardy; limiting their ability to help millions of people avoid poverty.
Analysts estimate that there are 6.9 million fewer jobs today, than there were at the start of the Great Recession. Adding together the jobs lost and the new jobs needed due to the increases in population; the job deficit reaches around 11.3 million. To fill this gap by 2014, around 400,000 jobs will have to be created every month. At the moment, only around 35,000 are being created, each month.
The only silver lining is Obamas $450 billion job creation package which is yet to be approved. Economists believe that this package, like others would act more like a sedative than a stimulus, and that unemployment would rise in coming years. Consequently government would have to make serious policy changes to improve poverty levels in the long term.
source: Business Recorder
Saturday, May 7, 2011
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