Time Poverty is the plague of the Working Poor in the USA. Families lose children to social workers because parents are not available to be parents.
...Poverty (click here) is determined by the U.S. Census Bureau’s poverty thresholds. These thresholds, updated annually, determine how much income a household requires to meet basic needs, such as food and shelter. In 2016 in a household of two adults, a single full-time worker at minimum wage will earn only 94 percent of their poverty threshold of $16,070. A single parent with one child will earn 91 percent of their poverty threshold.
This means that in order to have earnings above their poverty threshold, a single parent with one child, for example, would have to earn at least $7.95 per hour working full-time. At the current federal minimum wage of $7.25, this single parent would have to work at least 2,282 hours during the year, or an average of about 43.8 hours each week....
There is an article by Tim Neville (click here), a Colorado Repuglican state senator who actually believes the tax cuts will help the working poor. He is also Vice President of Neville Insurance Associates.ALICE (click here) is a United Way acronym that stands for Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed.
This ALICE website has information taken within the paradigm of the global economic collapse of 2008. The surveys were conducted in 2007 (as the collapse began) and 2010. There is also a 2017 survey that has as high as 40% of households failing when it comes to a livable wage and accumulating assets to achieve the American Dream.
The 2017 reports are mostly published according to state without a comprehensive federal assessment. The United Way wants to encourage change and their approach this time is to focus on states, counties and municipalities. Evidently, Mr. Neville has seen a country wide assessment and I have not.
June 1, 2018
In the United States today, (click here) essentially anyone who wants a job can get one. Friday's jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows the unemployment rate is at a historic low of 3.8 percent and there are a record 6.6 million available jobs. Things are even better in Colorado, where the unemployment rate is a mere 2.9 percent....
...Yet a new survey by United Way suggests that nearly half of households in the country still can't afford basics like rent and food. It finds that nearly 51 million households don't earn enough to afford a monthly budget that includes housing, food, child care, health care, transportation and a cell phone....
Number of households in the U.S. from 1960 to 2017 (in millions) (click here) There are approximately 126.22 million households in the USA. According to Mr. Neville there is about 51 million households suffering under the USA economy. That means of all the households in the USA there is more than 41% failing the promise of America.
More than 41 percent of American households are failing to achieve the promise the USA has made to them as there birthright.
But was does the United Way know, right?
...Recently passed tax cuts are giving these hard-working Americans some relief. An ordinary household earning $75,000 a year will see more than $2,000 in tax savings as a result of tax reform. This is as a result of breaks such as the doubling the standard deduction, and eliminating the 15 percent tax rate in favor of a vastly expanded 12 percent one....
Ordinary American households do make $75,000 per year.
September 12, 2017
...America's middle class is booming. (click here)
Between 2015 and 2016, US median household income rose 3.2% from $57,230 to $59,039, according to a new report released by the U.S. Census Bureau on Tuesday.
It's now the highest income year on record, beating the previous high of $58,655 in 1999 (all numbers are adjusted for inflation)....
These are the 2018 federal taxes due on $55,000 in income. This comes from a tax calculator site (click here).
This tax can be effected by tax credits such as the child tax credit. The child tax credit is supposed to double for 2018, however, there are eligibility requirements and depending on income all of the credit may not apply.
While the income in a Child Tax Credit can return up to $2000 per child to the household budget, that doesn't mean this is such a help it removes the Working Poor from their plight. The tax home pay of a couple earning $55,000 per year is about $43,000 to $46,000 per year depending on state taxation. When adding $2000 to that take home pay there isn't a whole lot of improvement to monthly cash flow for that family. Even at $4000 per year, that is a monthly increase of about $333. That can improve the chances of accomplishing what in the years to come? A better rental? A chance at a new car? Paying for braces?
The point is while Colorado Repuglican Neville touts appreciation for the tax changes for 2018, it isn't all that. And, unless a couple has children there isn't anything that radically improves the tax structure from 2016, 2017 or 2018.
THE DAMN WAGES ARE TOO LOW and the American worker in more than 41 percent of the households hasn't got a chance at a House, two cars, a secure retirement and college for the kids.
The unions of the USA have to improve their penetration into the numbers of working Americans. The Working Poor is unacceptable and has been unacceptable. The country needs real change not TRICKLING change.
Americans are losing and there is every indication according to The United Way, more than 41 percent of Americans have lost their quality of life. They need good wages, JOB SECURITY, the best health care the country can provide and a future for their children. They need vacations and holidays full of joy.
The American Dream has been compromised and the tax changes by the Repuglicans are not going to return it. Americans need to understand who the backbone of this American economy is and it is them. When a backbone breaks crippling follows and that is where Americans in more than 41 percent of the households are, they are crippled and have a very poor outlook for their future.
The unions have to give back good pay AND time home with family and friends, especially those children. Children need their parents and they don't get it when a parent is working 43.8 per week to simply stay above the poverty line.
America also needs it's brain trust back and that only happens when parents spend time with their children and have the money to send them onto higher education. It's time the USA stand up and demand what is rightfully theirs.
Neville plays Americans for fools when it rants on and on about companies that have increased wages. Those companies are in the minority and ARE FINALLY PAYING THE WAGES AMERICANS SHOULD HAVE BEEN GETTING FOR DECADES!
