Poverty rates up in most U.S. states, cities: Census

(Reuters) - The ranks of the poor rose in almost all U.S. states and cities in 2010, despite the end of the longest and deepest economic downturn since the Great Depression the year before, U.S. Census data released on Thursday showed.

Mississippi and New Mexico had the highest poverty rates, with more than one out of every five people in each state living in poverty. Mississippi's poverty rate led, at 22.4 percent, followed by New Mexico at 20.4 percent.

New Hampshire had the lowest poverty rate, at 8.3 percent, making it the only state with a poverty rate below 10 percent.

Twelve states had poverty rates above 17 percent, up from five in 2009, while poverty rates in 10 metropolitan areas topped 18 percent, the data showed.

"We saw the recession hit and unemployment increase, but we haven't seen a dramatic drop in unemployment," said Elizabeth Kneebone, a senior research associate focusing on metropolitan issues at the Brookings Institution.

"Because we're still in this weak recovery, we could see these numbers get worse before they get better," she added.

The U.S. recession that began in 2007 took a steep toll across the country, sparing only a few places from rising joblessness and crashing incomes. More than a year after the recession officially ended in 2009, the U.S. unemployment rate remains above 9 percent; the poverty rate rose to 15.3 percent in 2010 from 14.3 percent in 2009.

"No state had a statistically significant decline in either the number of people in poverty or the poverty rate between 2009 and 2010." the Census reported.

Kneebone, of the Brookings Institution, noted that many of the big increases in the poverty rate in the first year of the recession were centered in the inner-mountain west and the Sunbelt.

"As the recession deepened and spread to other industries, other regions of the country also saw their numbers increase," she said, noting that areas reliant on manufacturing had not fully recovered from a downturn earlier in the decade when the recession struck.

The depth of poverty levels increased in 2010, with 6.8 percent of people having incomes that were no more than half of the federal government's official poverty threshold. That was up from 6.3 percent in 2009.

Poverty ran deepest in Washington, D.C., where one in 10 people had incomes less than 50 percent the threshold.

The Census also looked at the 366 metropolitan areas that account for more than 80 percent of the U.S. population.

                         This is a deep problem that not only has been imbued upon the United States, but the whole world. For example:  Almost half the world — over 3 billion people — live on less than $2.50 a day. The GDP (Gross Domestic Product) of the 41 Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (567 million people) is less than the wealth of the world’s 7 richest people combined. Nearly a billion people entered the 21st century unable to read a book or sign their names.
Less than one per cent of what the world spent every year on weapons was needed to put every child into school by the year 2000 and yet it didn’t happen.
1 billion children live in poverty (1 in 2 children in the world). 640 million live without adequate shelter, 400 million have no access to safe water, 270 million have no access to health services. 10.6 million died in 2003 before they reached the age of 5 (or roughly 29,000 children per day). It seems like the panacea for poverty is...more poverty--not the case. We must...as people of the world....do our part to stop this virulent disease. Peace and Love my fellow freedom fighter.

                  Justin