[Vision2020] Families in extreme poverty up, study says

[Art Deco]

Families in extreme poverty up, study says By Marisol
Bello<http://content.usatoday.com/topics/reporter/Marisol+Bello>,
USA Today

The number of families living on $2 per person per day for at least a month
in the USA<http://content.usatoday.com/topics/topic/Places,+Geography/Countries/United+States>has
more than doubled in 15 years to 1.46 million.

That's up from 636,000 households in 1996, says a new study released by
researchers at the University of
Michigan<http://content.usatoday.com/topics/topic/Organizations/Schools/University+of+Michigan>and
Harvard
University<http://content.usatoday.com/topics/topic/Organizations/Schools/Harvard+University>
.

Government benefits blunt the impact of such extreme poverty, but not
completely, says one of the researchers, Luke Shaefer, a professor of
social work at Michigan.

When food stamps are included as income, the number of households in
extreme poverty, defined as living on $2 a day, drops to 800,000, Shaefer
says. That's up from 475,000 in 1996.

"This seems to be a group that has fallen through the cracks," says Kathryn
Edin, Harvard researcher and public-policy professor.

The study found that among households in extreme poverty, one in five
received rent vouchers or lived in public housing. Sixty-six percent had at
least one child with public health insurance. The study did not factor in
how those benefits affect household income.

Robert Rector <http://content.usatoday.com/topics/topic/Robert+Rector>,
senior research fellow at the Heritage
Foundation<http://content.usatoday.com/topics/topic/Organizations/Non-profits,+Activist+Groups/Heritage+Foundation>,
a conservative think tank, says most aid to the poor today is in non-cash
assistance. Last year, he says, the federal and state government spent
$900billion on 70 programs that assist the poor, from health care and food
stamps to energy assistance and college grants.

"When you look at that type of family, you don't see the type of
deprivation this study suggests," he says.

Because the study shows households in extreme poverty for a month, it is
more reflective of people losing jobs, getting divorced or having
short-term crises, he says.

Shaefer says, "We are trying to document the growth in deep poverty. … Even
one month living at this level is concerning."

-- 
Art Deco (Wayne A. Fox)
art.deco.studios at gmail.com
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