week 5

 

Week 5 Discussion

– Initial Post and two replies

Listed below are several summary statements from the 2010 Census report:    

• The official poverty rate in 2010 was 15.1 percent—up from 14.3 percent in 2009. This was the third consecutive annual increase in the poverty rate. Since 2007, the poverty rate has increased by 2.6 percentage points, from 12.5 percent to 15.1 percent.
• In 2010, 46.2 million people were in poverty, up from 43.6 million in 2009—the fourth consecutive annual increase in the number of people in poverty.
• Between 2009 and 2010, the poverty rate increased for non-Hispanic Whites (from 9.4 percent to 9.9 percent), for Blacks (from 25.8 percent to 27.4 percent), and for Hispanics (from 25.3 percent to 26.6 percent). For Asians, the 2010 poverty rate (12.1 percent) was not statistically different from the 2009 poverty rate.1
• The poverty rate in 2010 (15.1 percent) was the highest poverty rate since 1993 but was 7.3 percentage points lower than the poverty rate in 1959, the first year for which poverty estimates are available.
• The number of people in poverty in 2010 (46.2 million) is the largest number in the 52 years for which poverty estimates have been published.
• Between 2009 and 2010, the poverty rate increased for children under age 18 (from 20.7 percent to 22.0 percent) and people aged 18 to 64 (from 12.9 percent to 13.7 percent), but was not statistically different for people aged 65 and older (9.0 percent).2

Refer to

United States Census Bureau

 for this assignment

Tasks:

• Select any three of the six summary statements and explain in detail the significance and possible causes of each item.
• Be sure to use the economic concepts and polices discussed in your textbook where applicable.
• Identify possible economic policies that may explain these items and/or those which could be used to deal with the problems or situations described.

Deliverables:

• Prepare a 5-7 page Microsoft Word document that addresses the above tasks and meets APA standards.
• Include a summary section in your report that contains 5-7 bullet points identifying your major findings or conclusions of your paper. 
• Submit the summary section as your initial post in the Discussion Area by the due date assigned. Include the full report as an attachment to your posting.
• Continue your discussions until the end of the week by commenting on at least two other submissions by your peers, identifying the strengths and weaknesses of each post.
• All submissions must be original and all resources must be properly acknowledged.

Week 5 Discussion

Deborah Scherch

South University

The poverty rate increased in 2010 to 15.1 percent, which went up from 14.3 percent in 2009. This was the third time an increase in the poverty rate. In 2007, the poverty rate was increased by 2.6 percentage points. This is only one of the main reasons for this increase in the poverty rate increase. In 2010, when President Obama took office, he instilled The Obama Care Act, due to this act all tax paying citizens were required to have health insurance. During this time the country was at one of its worst economic crises since the Great Depression. Millions of citizens were only surviving because of expanded unemployment insurance and other government assistance available to low-income families. The main reason for the poverty rate was for the lack of jobs in the United States. Lack of employment raised the poverty rate to increase (which is a percentage of population whose family income has fallen below the poverty line). Due to this deterioration in the labor market, incomes dropped, and poverty rose.

When the Great Recession officially ended in the summer of 2009, but the labor market continued deteriorating through the end of 2009, and the modest economic growth in 2010 was not enough to compensate for those losses.  The number of jobs fell dramatically when the unemployment rate increased from 9.3 percent to 9.6 percent. The citizens of the United States that where unemployed had been unemployed for more than six months climbed from 31.2 percent to 43.3 percent. This deterioration in the labor market, incomes dropped, and poverty rose.

The poverty rate in 2010 (15.1 percent) was the highest poverty rate since 1993 but was 7.3 percentage points lower than the poverty rate in 1959, the first year for which poverty estimates are available. Scientists have found several effects from the recession which started in December 2007 and continued through 2009. A survey in 2011 found that most citizens’ personal finance felt their financial situation was getting worse instead of better. The government had not started tracking the statistics about poverty. As the government started tracking the poverty level it has fluctuated up and down, because more families started living together because the cost of living was to expensive for younger and elderly people of society. Some people lived with relatives even if it meant sleeping on the floor in a one-bedroom home.

Between 2009 and 2010, the poverty rate increased for children under age 18 (from 20.7 percent to 22.0 percent) and people aged 18 to 64 (from 12.9 percent to 13.7 percent),but was not statistically different for people aged 65 and older (9.0 percent). In 2012 employment improved, however the improvement wasn’t what the environment needed, they were hoping for a much greater improvement. In Great Recession, which occurred in late 2007, which the statics should that it ended in the middle of 2009, but the economy continued to lose jobs through early 2010. The job growth we did experience was not adequate to increase the share of the working-age population with new jobs. In 2011 and 2012, there was some improvement. The working-age population with a job dropped from 63.0 percent in 2007 to 58.4 percent in 2011 and rebounded slightly to 58.6 percent in 2012. Given the tight relationship between the health of the labor market and incomes for most households, it is unsurprising that incomes for most households grew only marginally.

The modest income growth for non-elderly households lost income between 2011 and 2012 barely began to offset the losses incurred during the recession. Some, incomes were substantially lower than they were before the recession began for all but the top 5 percent of the income distribution, and the poverty rate remains elevated.

Furthermore, there are many disappointing trends from the Great Recession and its aftermath come on the heels of the weak economy. Poverty rates actually increased and, for the first time in record, incomes for the middle class did not rise. 

REFERENCES

http://epi.orglpublication/lost-decade

Retrieved November 19, 2020

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2010 Census Report

Araceli Garza

South University Online

2010 Census Report

· In 2010, 46.2 million people were in poverty, up from 43.6 million in 2009-the fourth consecutive annual increase in the number of people in poverty.

Since the 1970’s the average income has grown but the poverty rate has also “the increase in inequality has prevented the poorest families from sharing in this greater economic prosperity” (Mankiw, N.G., 2020). Monetary income is how poverty rate is calculated “In-Kind Transfers and Tax Credits” because this information on the income distribution and poverty rate depend on pre-tax incomes forgetting some of the tax credits that designed to assist the poor. “The Economic Life Cycle a young person that works and is in school is considered to be low income when their income increases they learn how to be responsible and have experience until reaching about 50 then soon after leading to retirement at age 65” (Mankiw, N.G., 2020).

· The number of people in poverty in 2010 (46.2 million) is the largest number in the 52 years for which poverty estimates have been published.

All classes are affected by poverty it’s an economic malady that will single out a population targeting a race as stated in the American society that blacks and Hispanics will most likely to be poor double the chance of that of a white person would be. Another factor of poverty is age children are affected by poverty since they have no control if they are born from a poor family and the elderly less plausible of being poor. A family’s composition can be affected by poverty single mothers who claim head of households are 5x’s probable to live in poverty then those families whose head is a married couple. These facts that were stated in the American society showing who is most likely to live in poverty (Mankiw, N.G. (2020).

· Between 2009 and 2010, the poverty rate increased for children under age 18 (from 20.7 percent to 22.0 percent) and people aged 18 to 64 (from 12.9 percent to 13.7 percent), but was not statistically different for people aged 65 and older (9.0 percent).

Since single mothers are a big part of the poverty situation and since TANF programs are on a rise because of this issue many criticize these types of programs claiming that these are reasons why poverty is so high. Critics of these programs argue that because of these programs are a to blame for the poverty and this is why the system was revised in 1996 that gives families a cut off time to stay on these government programs. In the US the Government has a goal for these programs as for Social Security and Medicare a universal service template is in place for seniors some of the social spending is design to help the poor.

References

Mankiw, N. G. (2020). Principles of Economics (9th ed.). Cengage. ISBN: 9780357133484.

Census.gov

The Research Supplemental Poverty Measure: 2010 (census.gov)