DOMESTIC POVERTY in the United States 🐊

Greetings **PUNY MAMMALS** of /r/neoliberal 🐊

Today, let us **BRIEFLY** discuss domestic poverty in the United States, and how it is **NOT** an issue of personal failing and more one of systemic pitfalls.

Many **PRESUMPTUOUS** mammals blame poverty on laziness or stupidity; my hope is that in being a reader here, **YOU** are marginally committed to digging beyond shallow conclusions that confirm your priors, and instead indulging in earnest analysis. 🐊

**HOUSING** 🐊

Many operate **UNDER THE ASSUMPTION** that the poor mostly receive heavy subsidies and such for housing costs through government aid, and thus do not have difficulty addressing their rent; but the **REALITY IS** much more difficult for many poor families.

Firstly it is necessary to recognize that since the financial crisis and Great Recession, **RENTS HAVE BEEN CONSISTENTLY RISING** in cities across the United States. [1](https://fred.stlouisfed.org/graph/?g=78wO) 🐊

Secondly, median household income has remained roughly the same since the dawn of the 21st century. [2](https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-recovery-finally-reached-most-americans-in-2015/) 🐊

Taking these two trends **IN CONCERT**, it should be no surprise to read the following: "The percentage of renters below the poverty line who spent more than 50 percent of their income on housing rose from 42 percent to 52 percent between 1991 and 2013." [3](https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/why-so-many-poor-americans-dont-get-help-paying-for-housing/) 🐊

Thus we have a situation where the people **WHO ARE THE POOREST** are also spending so much of their limited-income on rent, that it is doubtful they can cover all food and other necessities sufficiently, let alone spend any money on job training, education, certifications or other barriers to higher-paying jobs.

**FOOD** 🐊

Those stuck in poverty also suffer from the challenge of feeding themselves and their families **WITH LESS TIME AND MONEY TO DO SO**.

Regarding the obstacle of sufficient food, critics often point poor families towards the **THRIFTY FOOD PLAN**, as advised by the USDA. However, the Thrifty Food Plan achieves its goals of both low-cost and healthy by advocating diets that are at extreme odds with American eating-habits, requiring those who try to follow it to purchase and consume foodstuffs in proportions that are entirely unnatural and even antithetical to their cultural norms.

The Thrifty Food Plan also cuts into the other major resource that people in poverty often find in short-supply: **TIME**. Many of the items advised by the plan require more time and effort at home to prepare, which is simply not feasible in an era where so many families have both parents working, low-income families included. [4](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2847733/) 🐊

**ACCESS TO EMERGING INDUSTRIES** 🐊

One last point I would like to bring attention to is the gap between **WHERE POVERTY** is the most significant in the United States, and **WHERE GDP GROWTH** has been most prominent in the nation. Many of our poorest people live in places that are far from the bastions of our strongest economic growth, and moving requires time, money, and savings. Consider both the direct overlap of the following data, as well as how most states that are immediately adjacent to the worst-suffering are not much better off.

The US States where the percentage of people in poverty exceeds 18%: **New Mexico, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Kentucky**

The US States where the 10-year average annual GDP growth (2008-2018) was less than 1%: **New Mexico, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Kentucky**, Nevada, Wyoming, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, West Virginia, New Jersey, Delaware, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Vermont, Maine

[5](https://www.census.gov/library/visualizations/2016/comm/cb16-158_poverty_map.html) 🐊

[6](https://money.com/map-of-economic-growth-by-state/) 🐊

To those of you who have taken the time to read this, I **APPRECIATE** it; and I hope you have gained something from doing so. We are a subreddit that is **AT LEAST NOMINALLY** intent on evidence-based policy, and real solutions cannot come about without real understanding of the problem. 🐊

Thank you **KINDLY**, and **WARM REGARDS**,

**SHIVERS** 🐊