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For context, 87% of US children attend public schools. (10% attend private schools and 3% are homeschooled.) In any discussion about poverty rates, the exact d
by a_puppy 10y ago
For context, 87% of US children attend public schools. (10% attend private schools and 3% are homeschooled.)
In any discussion about poverty rates, the exact definition of "in poverty" is important. This article is defining anyone who qualifies for free or reduced-price school lunches as "being in poverty". The income threshold for free or reduced-price school lunches [0] is defined as 185% of the official federal poverty line. For a three-person household, the federal poverty line is $20,160/yr, so the threshold for reduced-price meals is $37,296/yr.
[0] https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2016-03-23/pdf/2016-06463.pdf https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2016-03-23/pdf/2016-06463.p...
- danielvf 10y agoThanks for pointing out the fallicy of equating the lunch program with poverty! It drives me up the wall when people treat this as a 1-1 equivalent. In Charlotte, NC only 79% of students attend public school. Statewide, homeschooling has been growing at 15% per year for the last two years, and has now passed private school enrollment. Give that this is quite different than the national average, I wonder how the percentages of public school vary across the nation.
- hackuser 10y agoYou can be above the poverty line and still be poor. Based on the document you posted, you qualify for reduced-priced meals if your family of four lives on $44,955 per year or $865 per week. If I understand the article correctly, more than half of public school students come from families poorer than that. Wow.
- flubert 10y agoDoes anyone have the statistics on how many of those kids are from single-parent households?
- danielvf 10y agoYou can live a very comfortable life in much of the US for $44,000 a year. We spent 30K last year for a family of six, not including taxes, giving, and health insurance. And that includes materials for homeschooling, and upgrading to a minivan.
- hackuser 10y agoI don't agree that it applies to "most of the U.S." or even very widely. Also, you are talking after taxes; the document says income is measured before taxes. Also, recall that most poor are in cities.
- danielvf 10y agoGraduated income tax and child tax credit starts making a big difference in taxes for below median incomes. $48,000 before taxes with four kids is around $5,500 in taxes before any other deductions or credits. With things like EIC and a normal set of deductions and credits, I'd expect actual income tax to be between none and $2,500. Families pay proportionally way less taxes than single people do.
- hackuser 10y agoYou're only talking about income tax. Social Security, FICA, etc. are regressive taxes that make the working class pay higher rates overall than many people who are wealthier.
- lovich 10y agoRent in boston for a family of six would be over 30k after taxes and that's with living in ghetto. I live in a 600 sq ft home and its 21600 a year. Your budget definitely doesn't apply across the country
- danielvf 10y agoYeah. I'm not saying that's a comfortable income accross the county - it certainly is not - but there are plenty of places where $44,000 a year is all you need, and some extra. -- For a housing comparison with you in Boston, our 1,800 square foot house in a good neighborhood, 30 minutes from downtown Charlotte, NC is $8,100 per year, including insurance and taxes. This may be why the whole northeast appears to be trying to move to Charlotte.
- flubert 10y ago
- Spivak 10y agoIn fact, most organizations, including the US government, use around 200% of the poverty line as their cutoff for different kinds of benefits. 185% of the poverty line is pretty much universally accepted as poor and shouldn't be used to cast doubt on the article.