In January 2022, the U.S. Census Bureau reported that in 2020, there were 37.2 million people in poverty, approximately 3.3 million more than in 2019 – that’s an official poverty rate of 11.4 percent, up 1.0 percentage point from 10.5 percent in 2019. The “poverty threshold” for a four-person family in 2020 was $26,496.
The Census Bureau also reported that between 2019 and 2020, the poverty rate increased for non-Hispanic Whites and Hispanics. Among non-Hispanic Whites, 8.2 percent were in poverty in 2020, while Hispanics had a poverty rate of 17.0 percent. In addition, Black Americans had the highest poverty rate at 19.5 percent.
Kimberly Amadeo points out, “Between 1979 and 2007, after-tax income increased by 275% for the most affluent 1% of households. It rose by 65% for the top fifth. For the bottom fifth, it only increased by 18%, even adding all income from Social Security, welfare, and other government payments.”
The Federal Reserve reports that in 1989 the top 1 percent controlled 23.5 percent of the nation’s wealth and, in 2022, its share had increased to 31.8 percent or $44.9 trillion.
Gender inequality
Pew Research reports “the gender gap in pay has remained relatively stable in the United States over the past 15 years or so.” In 2020, it reports, “women earned 84% of what men earned.” It further points out, “based on this estimate, it would take an extra 42 days of work for women to earn what men did in 2020
Racial inequality
A 2018 Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis concluded, “The historical data also reveal that no progress has been made in reducing income and wealth inequalities between black and white households over the past 70 years.”
Racial inequality persists through the unequal distribution of economic opportunity, education, healthcare and neighborhood conditions. It involves racial disparities in wealth, education, employment, housing, mobility, health, rates of arrest and incarceration, to name but a few factors. Of special concern, the nation’s demographic character is fundamentally changing. As the 2020 Census makes clear that the demographic clock is ticking against the notion that the U.S. is a “white” nation. The racial/ethnic composition of the country is changing and, by 2050, the U.S. is projected be a “majority-minority” country, with white non-Hispanics making up less than half of the total population.
Legal inequality
The Sentencing Project reports that “Black Americans are imprisoned at a rate that is roughly five times the rate of white Americans.” Yet, Black or African Americans make up only 13.6 percent of the nation’s population. A recent study by the National Academy of Sciences found that “dying at the hands of law enforcement is a leading cause of death among young Black men.” Going further, it noted that “1 in 1,000 Black men and boys can be expected to be killed by police at some point in their lifetime.” It also notes that that Black males are 2.5 times more likely to be killed by police than white males.”
Health/wellness inequality
Amidst the Covid pandemic, the U.S. was characterized by zones of “vaccine deserts,” geographic areas where people have little or no convenient access to vaccines. According to one estimate, 17 million people live in rural vaccine deserts and 50 million people live in urban vaccine deserts.
Urban/rural inequality
The U.S. is becoming an ever-increasing urban nation with about 83 percent of the population living in cities. Rural America is losing it population to more attractive urban centers, most often supporting Democrats. During the decade following the Great Recession of 2007–2009, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth in rural America lagged behind urban GDP growth. Rural areas in the aggregate experienced post-recession growth of 14.8 percent while urban areas registered 19.2 percent growth.
In the 2016 election, “Trump votes was higher in counties with a higher share of white, middle-income, US-born, rural and less-educated voters. In that more unequal states were more likely to vote for Trump.”
A CBS survey for the 2020 elections. It found that for families with income under $50,000, 55 percent voted for Biden while 44 percent voted for Trump; for families with income of $50,000 or more 51 percent voted for Biden while 47 percent voted for Trump. However, for families with incomes of over $100,000, 54 percent voted for Trump while 42 percent voted for Biden.
No comments:
Post a Comment