Poverty Myths Busted: I Will Never be Poor
I will never be poor.
False!
The number of Americans who will experience economic poverty at some point in their lives is much higher than those living in poverty according to the official poverty rate at any one time.
Almost one third of the US population experienced poverty for two or more consecutive months between 2009 and 2011. This is twice the national poverty rate. Of those who experienced temporary poverty, one third had escaped poverty by 2011. Approximately half continued to have income less than 150 percent of the poverty threshold.[1]
Poverty is not a fixed condition; people move into and out of poverty all the time depending on their life situations. Research reveals that nearly 40% of Americans between the ages of 25 and 60 will be below the official poverty line for at least one year, and another 10% will be near the poverty line for a year.[2] A literature review on poverty dynamics done by the Urban Institute also indicates that over half of the US population will experience poverty at some time before the age of 65.[3]
Alarmingly, these numbers are growing. The numbers of people experiencing temporary poverty and the length of time of these “poverty spells” have grown since the period of 2005 to 2007, from 27.1 percent to 31.6 percent and 5.7 months to 6.6 months, respectively.
All of these of course focuses on the poverty line, a deeply flawed measure in its own right. According to a recent report by the United Way, an astounding 43% of American households cannot afford the basics needed for daily life, including food, child care, health care, transportation, or a cell phone. [4]
Poverty is more prevalent than the public generally perceives. For the majority of Americans, poverty is personal.
Sources
[1] Edwards, A. N. (2014). Dynamics of Economic Well-Being: Poverty, 2009-2011. U.S Census Bureau. Retrieved from http://www.census.gov/prod/2014pubs/p70-137.pdf retrieved on Feb 26, 2018;
[2] Rank, M. R. (2013). Poverty in America is Mainstream. New York Times. Retrieved on Feb 26, 2018 from http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/11/02/poverty-in-america-is-mainstream/?_r=002/26/2018 ;
[3] Cellini, S. R., McKernan, S., & Ratcliffe, C. (2008). The Dynamics of Poverty in the United States: A Review of Data, Methods, and Findings. The Urban Institute. Retrieved from http://www.urban.org/UploadedPDF/411960_thedynamicsofpoverty.pdf retrieved on Feb 26, 2018
[4] https://www.unitedwayalice.org/in-the-us retrieved on May 31, 2018