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Though not a perfect measure
?Granted,Timberland Roll Top Boots,Timberland Roll Top Boots, when absolute measures are used, poverty in the United States reveals itself to be not nearly as bad as in many countries around the world. Having lived in some very poor parts of the world,Timberland Shoes, I've seen desperate poverty close up,Timberland Boots Men,Timberland Shoes. I know that some (though by no means all) people classified as poor in the U.S,Timberland Hiking Shoes,Timberland Hiking Shoes. would be living a middle-class existence in other countries,Timberland Boots Men.
Nevertheless,Timberland Boots, it strikes me as bizarre that that would be the standard we should be using. Just because Americans don't starve to death as much as people elsewhere it doesn't mean that poverty isn't a very real problem here in the U.S.
Though not a perfect measure,Timberland Hiking Shoes, relative poverty is a natural and appropriate way to gauge economic hardship in this country. With the median household income in the U.S,Timberland Hiking Shoes. at about $52,Timberland Boots Men,Timberland Hiking Shoes,000 dollars per year, the measure of American poverty used by UNICEF is around $26,000 per year. That may be a lot of money by the standards of Bangladesh or South Sudan,Timberland Shoes, but it's not a lot of money to raise kids with in the U.S. After paying for basic living expenses,Timberland Boots Men, it doesn't leave much for putting away in savings to eventually buy a house or pay for a college education -- two of the historically reliable routes out of poverty.
Opponents of relative poverty measures don't just point to internal comparisons with the wealthy or to comparisons with people living in other countries to argue for how well off the poor are here in the U.S. They also point to the past,Timberland Boots Men. As John Stossel put it earlier this year, "to be poor in America is to live a life better than most have lived through history." |
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发表于 2013-2-6 02:00:25
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