We kid you not: One in five US kids in poverty

US: One in five kids live in poverty

"New figures have been released by the US census bureau revealing a yearly decline in median household income for Americans, growing inequality and more than one in five children under 18 years old living in poverty.
 
"In a survey of data for 2011, the census discovered that real median household income in the US had dipped by 1.5% from its level in 2010 to sit at $50,054 a year. The fall is the second consecutive annual decline ...
 
"The figures released by the census also show that little dent has been made on America's high levels of poverty, with some 15% of the nation — representing around 46.2 million people — living in poverty in 2011. The figures are worse for the very young, where the poverty rate for those under the age of 18 is 21.9% — or some 16.1 million children."

— The Guardian, September 12.

US inequality grows, worse than Bangladesh

"However, income inequality in the US has grown. The Gini Index, which measures income inequality, increased by 1.6% to a score of 0.477 in 2011. Though few other countries have yet produced figures for 2011, that number for the US shows a more unequal economy for America than the 2010 figures for countries like Uruguay, Argentina and Bangladesh. Within the figures there was also an increase in the share of aggregate income for the top 20% of Americans of 1.6% and — within that group — the top 5% saw a jump of 4.9%."

— The Guardian, September 12.

From GLW issue 938