Are you still hungering for great economic news? Over the past three years the poverty rate among working-age adults has averaged 9.3%:
This is not quite a 50-year record, but only because Biden set that record last year.
2 thoughts on “Poverty is historically low”
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What I find amazing, the so called war on poverty, dates back to 1964. Despite, spending a huge amount/some estimate the total at $25 trillion (adjusted for inflation), the poverty level has not moved enough for my liking.
Perhaps, the challenge with poverty is multi causal (mental health, violence etc) in ways that limit the impact of our current policies.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_on_poverty
https://www.texaspolicy.com/we-know-what-works-in-the-war-on-poverty/#:~:text=Nationally%2C%20about%20%2425%20trillion%20(adjusted,Poverty%20engendered%20the%20Great%20Society.
One thing that amazes me is that we constantly look for "records" of improvement in certain metrics.
And when we reach those milestones we expect them to be "the norm" especially in economics. The perfect example is unemployment. It used to be that less than 5% UI was considered "normal". Many economists have said that 3% of unemployed are transitioning into retirement. Add into that the comical "oh those stats are a lie" rhetoric used when they have no comeback against good news. (Bartiromo anyone).
Just look at the news with this outlook - its all optics. Anything that is good news right now is a falsehood. Any bad news is cheered on. If a republican gains the presidency the reverse happens.
We have been at "full" employment for awhile with many retired folks coming back into the work force. Now younger folks are working as well. This is NOT normal.