The current cost of living is pushing more people into poverty, with almost 68% of low income...
USA
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05/12/2012
‘Myth’ of social mobility in USA
Social mobility is relatively poor in the USA, contrary to the popular perception, according to a report prepared by the Congressional research service. The USA also appears to be have one of the most unequal distributions of income of all major industrialised countries, and to be among the nations experiencing the greatest increases in measures of income dispersion. The share of income in the USA going to the bottom quintile (the poorest 20 per cent) has remained little changed in recent few decades at less than 4 per cent, whereas the share taken by the top 5 per cent rose from 16.3 per cent in 1968 to 22.3 per cent in 2011.
Category: Reports -
19/11/2012
Squeezed middle – US lessons for Britain
Workers in the US have not benefited from earnings growth for an entire generation – the average American worker earned no more in 2009 than in 1975 – and now something similar appears to be happening to the 'squeezed middle' in Britain. A new book, to be published shortly, brings together a wide range of expert contributions on the lessons the UK can learn from the American experience.
Category: Reports -
17/11/2012
Inequality plays big role in US Presidential election
The 2012 US Presidential elections were unusual for the relatively important role played by issues of inequality and the distribution of income and wealth, says a paper by researchers at the London School of Economics. On this occasion Americans seemed to abandon their normally 'relaxed' attitude to inequality.
Category: Reports -
14/09/2012
Study contradicts official USA poverty figures
Poverty in the USA has fallen by 12.5 percentage points over the past 40 years, according to a new paper – contrary to official government statistics showing a rise in the number of people in poverty. Researchers argue that a more accurate picture is given by looking at changes in consumption rather than income. They also advocate improved income measures that remove bias in official price indices. On the basis of these alternative measures, they conclude: 'We may not have won the war on poverty, but we are certainly winning'.
Category: Reports -
12/09/2012
One in five children in USA living in poverty
More than one in five children in the USA are living in poverty, according to new figures released by the official Census Bureau. The report also reveals growing inequality between 2010 and 2011, and a decline in median household income.
Category: Reports -
04/09/2012
Childhood income volatility harms adult outcomes
Being exposed to family income instability as a child leads to lower educational attainment in later life, according to research in America. The study looks at the relationship between income instability and adult outcomes over a period of nearly 40 years, prompted by a rise of one-third in income volatility in the United States since the 1970s.
Category: Reports -
16/08/2012
Food stamp scheme fails to help low-income families in USA
Food stamps have failed to make a significant dent in the economic insecurity of families in poverty in the USA, according to new research.
The study looked at the role of the Food Stamps Program (FSP) in promoting economic security during 2004 and 2007. The purpose of the FSP is to increase food purchasing power and nutrition among low-income families.
Category: Reports -
11/05/2012
Minimum wages across Europe fall short of poverty thresholds
A new academic paper has looked at the role of minimum wages, tax and benefit policies in protecting workers against financial poverty in 21 European countries with a national minimum wage, together with three states in the USA.
Category: Reports -
14/01/2012
President Obama criticises tax breaks for the rich
President Obama used his State of the Union 2012 speech to portray himself as the champion of working class America and against the Republican tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans. The central theme of his speech was the need to return to a society where every American has a chance to share in success, describing it as ‘the basic American promise that if you worked hard, you could do well enough to raise a family, own a home, send your kids to college, and put a little away for retirement’.
Obama defined this issue as a key issue for a fair society, arguing:
No challenge is more urgent. No debate is more important. We can either settle for a country where a shrinking number of people do really well, while a growing number of Americans barely get by, or we can restore an economy where everyone gets a fair shot, and everyone does their fair share, and everyone plays by the same set of rules.
Category: News stories -
05/12/2011
President Obama criticises rising inequality in USA
In a major speech on the economy, President Obama has pointed to rising levels of inequality as a block on both economic growth and social mobility. Speaking in Osawatomie, Kansas, Obama examined the problem of income stagnation and the excessive concentrations of private wealth in the USA. Talking about inequality, he said:
This kind of inequality – a level we haven’t seen since the Great Depression – hurts us all. When middle-class families can no longer afford to buy the goods and services that businesses are selling, it drags down the entire economy, from top to bottom. America was built on the idea of broad-based prosperity – that’s why a CEO like Henry Ford made it his mission to pay his workers enough so that they could buy the cars they made. It’s also why a recent study showed that countries with less inequality tend to have stronger and steadier economic growth over the long run.
Category: News stories
