Facts of the Day

Nearly a quarter of Americans (24%) say they had trouble putting food on the table in the past 12 months. This is up from just 16% who reported such deprivation in 2007, the year before the Great Recession began. Americans’ reported level of deprivation is closer to that experienced by Indonesians or Greeks than it is the British or the Canadians. In fact, the percentage of Americans who say they could not afford the food needed by their families at some point in the last year is three times that in Germany, more than twice that in Italy and Canada.New research shows that one in seven of America’s senior citizens live in poverty, not one in ten as the Census Bureau earlier measured. Almost 5 million (4.8) elderly American live in food insecurity.
National holidays in the United States are not really national holidays. Unlike the rest of the developed world, the US doesn't guarantee every worker paid time off. Not for annual vacations. Not for Christmas. Not for Memorial Day.