Reply to Let Lower Income "Pay Their Fair Share"!

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Let's add some data here.

The U.S. poverty level is a measure of how many Americans are in poverty as measured by their annual income.  14.8% of the U.S. population is in poverty in 2014 as reported by the U.S. Census Bureau.

The poverty level is not a measure of whether the individual or family lives in poverty because welfare benefits are not included as income in the Census Bureau reporting.  Welfare benefits boost most low-income Americans out of a poverty status.

Therefore, it is estimated that probably less than 3% of the U.S. population actually live in poverty.

These 3% of Americans do not participate in the welfare system due to a variety of reasons such as poor education, disability, mental illness or addiction to alcohol or drugs.  A homeless person on the street is obviously living in poverty even though the welfare programs available to them would prevent it.  This is one of the tragedies of our current complex welfare system - it often misses those most in need.

Moreover, analyzing the poverty gap in 2014, $177 billion would have been required to give directly to each family or individual to raise their income out of poverty, yet government expenditures were $361 billion on 13 entitlement programs not including social security.

Census Bureau Measure of well being

The Census Bureau reports the following statistics regarding the well being of all households in America that are in a poverty status[ii].

Overall satisfaction with housing - 93%
Living space is greater than one room per person – 81%
Household is food secure – 73.5%
No unpaid essential needs (rent, mortgage, utility, phone, doctor and dentist payments) – 68%

Household has the following amenities:
Refrigerator – 98%
Stove – 97%
Television – 96%
Microwave oven – 93%
VCR – 83%
Air Conditioning – 83%
Cell Phone – 81%
Clothes washer – 69%
Clothes dryer – 65%
Computer – 58%
Dishwasher – 45%

Last who makes up the population we are discussing?

The poverty rate in 2015 for:

Adults not working 32%
Single moms - 28%
Black Americans - 24%
Hispanic Americans - 21%
All Children - 20%, 
Single dads - 15%
All Americans – 13.5%
Seniors - 9%
Married couples - 5%
Full time working adults - 2%

Rate of poverty compared to education:

No high school diploma   30.6% 
High school diploma 12.9%
some college 9.6%
College degree 4.5 %

Lastly, let's examine the impact of Obamacare on a family of four making above the subsidy threshold of $47,000.

Income: $47,000
Health insurance premiums (15,000)
Deductibles (6,500)
Co pays (1300)

Net $24,200 which is below the 2015 established level of poverty $24,237 for a family of four.

[/quote]
Your analysis was really great except for one mistake. The threshold limit of $47k only applies to a single-person household. For a family of four, I believe it's around $100k.

Other than that, great analysis. I took a lot from it, but especially striking was the fact that odds of living in poverty drop from 1 in 3 to around 1 - in 10 simply by finishing high school. [/quote]

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