The Cost Of Being Poor In America

by Progressive Economics on May 2, 2011 |   Trackback URI   |     Email This Post Email This Post   |   9153 Views  

The Cost Of Being Poor In America Infograph

Infograph source: Onlinesociologydegree.net

Embed this Image on Your Site:

Share And Save
Other Posts On ProseBeforeHos You Might Like

The Truth About Pepper Spray
America With And Without Health Care Reform
The Earth At Seven Billion
Explaining Liberal Universities In America
  • LeScorned

    Ummm…. Go back and learn some geography.

  • http://www.prosebeforehos.com/progressive-economics/05/02/cost-being-poor-in-america/ RichInRI

    @LeScorned- Ummmmmm…. care to elaborate?

  • James

    Umm…forgot to mention what the poor get taxed vs the rich. Lets see…poor are taxed around 7% and the Tax cut for the rich has a median of 35%. Is that fair? Because you have money that you work hard for, you get penalized by the Government for working and not standing on a corner with a sign? I work 7 days a week for 12 hours. There is work out there. Look for it and don’t mooch.

    • Retort

      Time to light that strawman on fire, James. The sign-toting destitute are only a fraction of those who suffer thus. Many work multiple jobs (low quality jobs such as: WalMart greeter and McDonalds burger flipper, granted.) and still struggle to get by. Besides, it’s rather difficult to get a job- look at the unemployment rate. While you might suggest people then start their own businesses (several commenters of your sentiment claim to have started their own businesses on other sites), that has associated problems. For starters, that requires an initial investment of capital that may simply not be there. Even if that investment exists or can be borrowed, there is no guarantee that the business will thrive. Maybe the market is saturated? Maybe WalMart or some other large company has you covered already? Maybe you just don’t have the requisite business acumen? Who knows. I’m probably missing some other possible problems with creating one’s own job. If anything, not being able to pay for health services and nourishment is appalling. If you object to helping with that, then truly, your issue (like Scrooge’s) is with the surplus population.

  • Jim

    There are a ton of fallacies in these statistics, such as the 50.7 uninsured Americans. The presentation of this data implies that all 50.7 million are too poor to afford healthcare. However, this number includes those who make over $75,000/yr. Those individuals believe that it is cheaper to pay out of pocket than to get insurance, demonstrating that they can afford it but choose not to. There was not a single mention of the numerous programs to help the “poor” (such as Medicaid), which in fact boosts their financial benefits. There was also a lack of discussion of the percentage the tax cuts the rich receive compared to the percentage of their income the government is taking away. It’s statistics like these that have led this nation from being a producer based on hard work to a consumer based on populism and handouts.

  • Chuck

    Whoops, in 1960 US population was only 179 million, making the 40 million living below the poverty line then 22% of the US population, as opposed to the 11% stated in this graph.

  • Carlos

    Also, they don’t mention anywhere the default rate on loaning to the poorest class. Why do they get worse rates? Because people who are like them more often than higher income individuals default on their loans making them more risky an investment for the financier. If you can’t charge them more interest then as a business why would you take the same benefit (interest payment) but at a much higher risk. If they weren’t allowed to charge them more then they wouldn’t loan to them at all because it wouldn’t make business sense for the financier. That would also prevent the poor individual from being able buy anything large and put him in worse straights like not having a car or being forced into renting a place.

  • http://fknapp2000@yahoo.com fk2u

    i got my paycheck today and went to cash it and they charged me $6.00 whats up with that. it was drawn on chase bank. i can’t believe this i get a check from someone for some work i do and go to their bank to cash it and they won’t cash it unless i pay them six dollars out of it. i thought that a bank had to cash a check that was drawn on their account as long as their was money in that account. just another way to steal money from someone who does’t have a lot

Previous post:

Next post: