American Poverty

This Christmas, you will hear alot about the less fortunate here in the U.S. and how we need to help them through government programs and giving. I firmly believe, that we, as Americans are some of the most generous people on the planet and it is shown time and again when donation figures are released. HereIs a study showing the amount given by average americans last year (2007):

In 2007, 84% of all adults donated some money to churches or non-profit organizations. That figure has also remained consistent in recent years.

The median amount of money donated during 2007 was $400; the mean amount was $1308. Those averages are higher than was revealed earlier in this decade, but represent a decline from the previous year. (The mean sum of donations per person in 2006 was $1348.)

The Barna study pointed out that one-third of all adults (34%) gave away $1000 or more during 2007. Nearly one-fifth (18%) had donated $100 or less.

I wanted to link to this

article as well in that it gives figures showing what the average "poor" person has in these United States.

In America, we consider a family of four "poor" if its annual income falls below $21,203. And we actually undercount income -- ignoring assets accumulated in prior years and disregarding non-cash welfare, such as taxpayer-funded education, lunch programs, health care, food stamps and subsidies for public housing. Only 6 percent of poor households, according to The Heritage Foundation, are overcrowded -- meaning more than one person per room. More than two-thirds of "poor" Americans live in housing with more than two rooms per person. And 43 percent of America's poor households own their own homes -- and the average poor person's home has three bedrooms, one-and-a-half bathrooms, a garage and a porch or a patio.
"Overall," writes Heritage, "the typical American defined as poor by the government has a car, air conditioning, a refrigerator, a stove, a clothes washer and dryer, and a microwave. He has two color televisions, cable or satellite TV reception, a VCR or DVD player, and a stereo. He is able to obtain medical care. His home is in good repair and is not overcrowded. By his own report, his family is not hungry and he had sufficient funds in the past year to meet his family's essential needs. While this individual's life is not opulent, it is equally far from the popular images of dire poverty conveyed by the press, liberal activists, and politicians."
"Nearly three-quarters of poor U.S. households own a car," says the study, "31 percent own two or more cars. Ninety-seven percent of poor households have a color television; over half own two or more color televisions. Seventy-eight percent have a VCR or DVD player; 62 percent have cable or satellite TV reception. Eighty-nine percent own microwave ovens, more than half have a stereo, and more than a third have an automatic dishwasher."
In 1970, only 36 percent of the entire U.S. population -- rich and poor -- lived with air conditioning, while today 80 percent of poor households have air conditioning. The average poor American has more living space than the average citizen -- of all income levels -- living in many cities throughout Europe, including Paris, London, Vienna and Athens.

I put this here for two reasons. One, to show that what we define as poor, is considered middle class to upper middle class in other countries. Two, it has been shown that when people have more money they give more money away and I believe that the individual knows better how to allocate their money than the Federal government. If we concentrated "our" federal money on to the truely poor, instead of using it as a vote buying scheme, we could really wipe out poverty and lower the money spent by the federal government.