Poverty often a temporary state, U.S. census study finds, By Ari Bloomekatz, March 28, 2011, Los Angeles Times: “Donny Ashley misses the days when he was just barely poor. Sure, he commuted more than three hours each day to work as an electrical apprentice, but the paycheck – about $575 a week – put his family of four over the federal poverty threshold. But then the economy turned, and he lost his job. His wife managed to get work as a nurse but lost that job about a month ago. Now, having burned through their savings, the Watts family has gone from barely poor to officially poor. ‘It’s not a good feeling to be, not necessarily above the poverty line, but somewhat, almost having your head above water where you can breathe. Now I’m drowning,’ Ashley said. ‘It’s a constant feeling of struggle, like no end in sight.’ A report released recently by the U.S. Census Bureau suggests that Ashley’s roller coaster ride along the poverty line is not unusual. The study found that poverty was often a temporary state for households: As some families moved out of poverty, others moved in. The report also showed that many of those families that escaped poverty continued to generate only minimal incomes…”
Poverty-related issues in the news, from the Institute for Research on Poverty