The world's greatest power at the political, economic and military level is not immune to the incidence of poverty. In 2006, in the United States, there was an increase of 12.7% in the country's poverty, information obtained by the North American census.
According to the data collected in the survey, there are approximately 37 million people with a quality of life below the American standard, that is, in poverty.
In the world, only Asians managed to reduce poverty levels from 11.8% to 9.8% in 2006, in addition to Furthermore, the percentage among the elderly population also decreased from 10.2% in 2003 to 9.8% in 2004.
The criterion for identifying poverty in the United States is based on the number of family members and the income produced. By North American standards, a family consisting of four individuals and with annual incomes up to US$19,157 are considered poor.
In the case of an elderly person, the criterion changes as to the amount of income, that is, someone over 65 years of age who lives alone and who has an income of less than US$9,060 a year is considered poor.
Do not stop now... There's more after the advertising ;)
This is an issue that concerns the authorities, since the year 2000 was the last time there was a drop in poverty rates. Another important data conceived in the census was about the average income in the country, according to a survey carried out in 2004, in general, Americans have an annual income of US$44,389.
Income in the United States is divided differently by ethnicity, proof of this is that in general those who earn less are blacks, as opposed to Asians, who earn more.
This social phenomenon tends to increase in the country, even with the modest growth experienced in previous years, which promoted the emergence of millions of job vacancies. However, this seems to be a problem that in this century will not be experienced only by underdeveloped nations, as it will integrate developed countries.
By Eduardo de Freitas
Graduated in Geography
Would you like to reference this text in a school or academic work? Look:
FREITAS, Eduardo de. "Rising Poverty in the United States"; Brazil School. Available in: https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/geografia/ascensao-pobreza-nos-estados-unidos.htm. Accessed on June 27, 2021.