The spread of poverty
I've often said that the way middle class families lived in the 60s and 70s would be considered poverty today--one car, 1.5 baths, 3 bedrooms, no AC, no dishwasher, one TV--and of course, no cable, no cellphones, no computers, etc. But I didn't expect the Census Bureau to agree with me.- "Forty-three percent of all poor households actually own their own homes. The average home owned by persons classified as poor by the Census Bureau is a three-bedroom house with one-and-a-half baths, a garage, and a porch or patio.
Eighty two percent of poor households have air conditioning. By contrast, 35 years ago, only 36 percent of the entire U.S. population enjoyed air conditioning. Nearly three-quarters of poor households own a car; 30 percent own two or more cars.
Ninety-seven percent of poor households have a color television; over half own two or more color televisions; Seventy-eight percent have a VCR or DVD player; 62 percent have cable or satellite TV reception; Seventy-three percent own microwave ovens, more than half have a stereo, and a more than a third have an automatic dishwasher."
1 comment:
This kind of thing blows my mind. If I was going to be poor, America is the place to do it. The poverty level is raised every year too.
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