Mr. Friscus
Governor
the Census Bureau announced that a record 46.2 million, or one in seven Americans, lived in poverty in 2011. For two decades, census officials have announced in most years that more than 35 million Americans were poor.
The Problem: There is a wide chasm between the public’s concept of poverty and “poverty” as it is defined by the Census Bureau.
The Answer: Public perception of poverty in the U.S. is governed by the mainstream media, which invariably depicts the Census Bureau’s tens of millions of poor people as chronically hungry and malnourished, homeless or barely hanging on in overcrowded, dilapidated housing.
Statistics About What the "Media-Defined Poor" Have:
80% of poor households have air conditioning.
(By contrast, in 1970, only 36 percent of the entire U.S. population enjoyed air conditioning.)
92% of poor households have a microwave
75% have a car or truck
31% have two or more cars or trucks.
66% have cable or satellite television.
50% have a personal computer
50% of poor families with children have a video game system such as Xbox or PlayStation.
43% have Internet access.
66% have at least one DVD player
70% have a VCR.
33% have a widescreen plasma or LCD TV.
25% has a digital video recorder such as TiVo.
Statistics that defy what the media portrays:
At a single point in time, only one in 70 poor persons is homeless.
The vast majority of the houses or apartments of the poor are in good repair
(only 6 percent are over-crowded.)
The average poor American has more living space than the average non-poor individual living in Sweden, France, Germany or the United Kingdom.
10% of the poor live in mobile homes or trailers;
50% live in detached single-family houses or townhouses
40% live in apartments.
42% of all poor households own their home
(on average, it’s a three-bedroom house with one-and-a-half baths, a garage, and a porch or patio.)
http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/277040/strange-facts-about-america-s-poor-robert-rector
After seeing all of this, do you still think calling everyone on this list as "poor" is justifiable or honest? Is it safe to say that media has embellished this so much that we are completely out of touch with just how much the overwhelming majority of our nation's "poor" actually have?
And just think of how much the "poor" are used politically by the Democrats in today's day and age? Would they hand out a flyer with all of this information on it?
The Problem: There is a wide chasm between the public’s concept of poverty and “poverty” as it is defined by the Census Bureau.
- The public generally thinks of poverty as substantial material hardship such as homelessness, or malnutrition and chronic hunger.
- In a recent Rasmussen poll, adults agreed (by a ratio of six to one) that “a family that is adequately fed and living in a house or apartment that is in good repair” is not poor.
- Interestingly enough, by that simple test, about 80 percent of the Census Bureau’s “poor” people would not be considered poor by their fellow Americans.
- And even more interestingly, in the same Rasmussen poll, 73 percent said poverty was a severe problem.
- Why the disconnect?
The Answer: Public perception of poverty in the U.S. is governed by the mainstream media, which invariably depicts the Census Bureau’s tens of millions of poor people as chronically hungry and malnourished, homeless or barely hanging on in overcrowded, dilapidated housing.
- The media takes the least fortunate 3 percent or 4 percent of the poor and portrays their condition as representative of most to all "poor" Americans.
- In 2009, the U.S. Department of Agriculture asked parents living in poverty this question: “In the last 12 months, were [your] children ever hungry but you just couldn’t afford more food?” Some 96 percent of poor parents responded “no”.
- Only 4 percent of poor parents responded “yes,” their children had been hungry at some point in the year.
Statistics About What the "Media-Defined Poor" Have:
80% of poor households have air conditioning.
(By contrast, in 1970, only 36 percent of the entire U.S. population enjoyed air conditioning.)
92% of poor households have a microwave
75% have a car or truck
31% have two or more cars or trucks.
66% have cable or satellite television.
50% have a personal computer
50% of poor families with children have a video game system such as Xbox or PlayStation.
43% have Internet access.
66% have at least one DVD player
70% have a VCR.
33% have a widescreen plasma or LCD TV.
25% has a digital video recorder such as TiVo.
Statistics that defy what the media portrays:
At a single point in time, only one in 70 poor persons is homeless.
The vast majority of the houses or apartments of the poor are in good repair
(only 6 percent are over-crowded.)
The average poor American has more living space than the average non-poor individual living in Sweden, France, Germany or the United Kingdom.
10% of the poor live in mobile homes or trailers;
50% live in detached single-family houses or townhouses
40% live in apartments.
42% of all poor households own their home
(on average, it’s a three-bedroom house with one-and-a-half baths, a garage, and a porch or patio.)
http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/277040/strange-facts-about-america-s-poor-robert-rector
After seeing all of this, do you still think calling everyone on this list as "poor" is justifiable or honest? Is it safe to say that media has embellished this so much that we are completely out of touch with just how much the overwhelming majority of our nation's "poor" actually have?
And just think of how much the "poor" are used politically by the Democrats in today's day and age? Would they hand out a flyer with all of this information on it?