A snapshot of income disparity, By Tim Rutten, February 24, 2010, Los Angeles Times: “On the eve of our worst financial crisis since the Depression, the United States was — from an economic standpoint, at least — a less equal nation than at any time since the Gilded Age. The sputtering recovery now underway is producing few, if any, jobs to replace those that have been lost. Meanwhile, a variety of factors continues to push wages and most salaries lower. Thus, we’re likely to emerge from this downturn with even greater disparities in income, wealth and effective tax rates, and the forces pushing us in that direction are particularly strong in Los Angeles County. We have a pre-recession portrait of American inequality because, in 1992, the Clinton administration asked the Internal Revenue Service to begin tracking the incomes and tax payments of the country’s 400 richest households. During the George W. Bush years, the IRS continued to collect the data, but — you’ll be shocked to know — didn’t release it to the public. Last week, the figures for 2007 were quietly made available, and, as David Cay Johnston, who formerly covered tax policy for the New York Times and now teaches at Syracuse University’s law school, points out, ‘The incomes of the top 400 American households soared to a new record high in dollars and as a share of all income in 2007, while the income tax rates they paid fell to a record low…'”
Month: February 2010
Poverty Rate – Madison, WI
Despite Madison’s relative affluence, poverty rate growing rapidly, By Mike Ivey, February 24, 2010, Capital Times: “The doors at the Society of St. Vincent de Paul food pantry on Fish Hatchery Road don’t open for another 30 minutes, but a line has already formed. They wait quietly, for the most part, this rainbow coalition of all ages: African-American grandmothers, Latino families, young women with pierced tongues, disabled seniors and working fathers. What they have in common is poverty. Once a month, with a valid photo ID, clients get enough groceries to last a week. ‘As my kids get older, I just keep having to cook more, so every bit helps,’ says Belinda Washington, 44, who has four children at home ages 4 to 17. A Chicago native, Washington moved to Madison 17 years ago and lives in the Lake Point neighborhood off West Broadway on the city’s south side. Her resume includes food service, catering and factory work but she’s been unemployed since her youngest was born. ‘I keep applying but the jobs are hard to come by,’ she says. Danny Pilgrim, 37, has a part-time job at Einstein Brothers Bagels in Madison but had his hours reduced recently. Now, he’s visiting the food pantry with his wife. ‘What can I say? We need the groceries,’ explains the father of three. Being poor, hungry or unemployed is a world far removed for many in Wisconsin’s capital city, where arguments over passenger rail, Badger sports or high-rise hotels can dominate the news. But the reality is Madison’s poverty rate is climbing – rising nine times faster than the rate of other U.S. cities, according to a new report from the liberal-leaning Brookings Institution…”
Teenage Pregnancy Rate – England
- Teenage pregnancy rate falls, February 24, 2010, BBC News: “The number of teenage pregnancies in England and Wales has fallen by 4%, according to figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). A total of 41,325 women under 18 fell pregnant in 2008, down 3.9% from 42,988 in 2007, the figures show. Of these young women 49% had an abortion, compared with 50% in 2007. The government had pledged in 1999 to halve teenage pregnancy rates among under-18s in England by this year but is widely expected to miss that target. The ONS data shows for every 1,000 girls aged between 15 and 17 in England and Wales, there were just over 40 pregnancies…”
- Teenage pregnancies fall, but not far enough, By Anna Bawden, February 24, 2010, The Guardian: “The government today announced an overhaul of its teenage pregnancy strategy after new figures showed conception rates among under 18s were not falling fast enough. According to data from the Office for National Statistics, 41,325 girls under 18 in England and Wales fell pregnant in 2008, a decline of 3.9% from 2007, while the number of pregnancies among the under-16s fell 7.6% to 7,577. But the decline is far short of the government’s pledge to halve teenage pregnancies by 2010. Ministers committed to halve pregnancies among 15- to 17-year-olds in England from the 1998 rate of 46.6 conceptions per 1,000 girls…”