Evidence Pours In: Poverty Getting Much Worse in America

Published on
Monday, November 05, 2018
by Common Dreams

The Evidence Pours In: Poverty Getting Much Worse in America
Poverty—and the stress of being poor—is killing people every single day

byPaul Buchheit


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According to the Credit Suisse 2018 Global Wealth Databook, 34 million American adults are among the WORLD'S POOREST 10%. How is that possible? In a word, debt. In more excruciating words: stifling, misery-inducing, deadly amounts of debt for the poorest Americans. And it goes beyond dollars to the "deaths of despair" caused by the stresses of inferior health care coverage, stagnating incomes, and out-of-control inequality.

Numerous sources report on the rising debt for the poor half of America, especially for the lowest income group, and largely because of health care and education costs. Since 2008 consumer debt has risen almost 50 percent. The percentage of families with more debt than savings is higher now than at any time since 1962.

It could be argued that Scandinavian countries face the same degrees of debt as Americans. But far less of the debt is for health and education costs. And the Scandinavian safety net is renowned for its generous provisions for all citizens.

Half of Us are In or Near Poverty

$1 in expenses twenty years ago is now $1.25. $1 in earnings twenty years ago is now still $1.

More and more Americans are facing financial difficulty. Estimates of adults living from paycheck to paycheck range from half to 60 percent to 78 percent. Any sign of a recession would be devastating for most of us.
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More at link.
https://www.commondreams.org/views/2018/11/05/evidence-pours-poverty-getting-much-worse-america