Sadly, those who "occupied" Wall
Street and city squares across the country in 2011, were right: All of the
income gains have concentrated at the top, while the rest of us saw a
deterioration or stagnation in our wages and income.
By Karen Dolan September 12, 2012
We can’t seem to stop having record numbers of people living in
poverty in the United States. The richest continue to get richer and the rest
of us continue to see our incomes get lower and lower.
New Census Bureau figures released only days
ago, show that 15 percent of the U.S.
population lived in poverty in 2011. Over 46 million Americans lived at or
below the poverty threshold of a household income of $23,201 per year for a
family of four. One in five of our children live in poverty and over one-third
of black and Latino children are struggling through impoverishment.
In 2011, we saw the first one-year increase in income inequality
since 1993. The top 5 percent gained 5.3 percent in income in 2011 over
2010. The lowest quintile saw little change, but the second-lowest, middle, and
fourth-lowest quintiles all experienced a decline in income over the year.
Sadly, those who “occupied” Wall Street and city squares across the country in
2011, were right: All of the income gains have concentrated at the top, while
the rest of us saw a deterioration or stagnation in our wages and income.
This data also confirms that safety programs work. According to
the Census Bureau, unemployment benefits kept 2.3 million of us out of poverty
in 2011, Social Security benefits kept over 21 million people out of poverty
and, if we count the nutrition aid of the Food Stamps program as income, it
would show that 3.9 million people were lifted above the poverty line in 2011.
Increasingly, all of the boost in wealth is concentrated at the
top and record numbers of poverty persist, while the middle and lower-economic
classes are losing ground. Now is not the time to lower taxes on the wealthiest
by cutting proven, effective anti-poverty measures such as Unemployment
Insurance, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance, the Earned Income Tax Credit,
Social Security, and new coverage benefits gained from the health care reform
law.
The rich shouldn't be rewarded while the rest of struggle.
