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Poverty is such a difficult and insidious issue. Once you're poor, it's very hard to get out of poverty. Being poor is very expensive for society as a whole, gi

Poverty is such a difficult and insidious issue. Once you're poor, it's very hard to get out of poverty. Being poor is very expensive for society as a whole, given that poverty correlates strongly with all kinds of other negative things (poor physical and mental health, certain kinds of crime, unstable family conditions etc). And it is often hereditary. This college seems like it's doing amazing things, but I will never understand why first world countries don't make poverty reduction a bigger priority :(

paulddraper 8y ago
In the same way that there was a War on Drugs [1] there was a War on Poverty [2], the New Frontier [3], and the Great Society [4] a decade earlier. [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_on_drugs https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_on_drugs [2] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_on_Poverty https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_on_Poverty [3] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Frontier https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Frontier [4] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Society https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Society
Karishma1234 8y ago
> Once you're poor, it's very hard to get out of poverty. What % of people born in poverty are not poor by the time they are 30 ? Does anyone have that number ? My intuition is that the number is higher.
- bytematic 8y ago
  You think that a majority of people make it out of poverty by 30? If someone thought that, they have a very closed off view of the world, even the U.S.
- acover 8y ago
  I don't know if this is a reputable source, however it claims in the USA 40% of men raised in the bottom fifth end up in the bottom fifth. That is about 4x as likely as a man in the top fifth.[0] This is much lower than I expected. [0] - https://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2012/01/social-mobility-america/ https://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2012/01/social-mobili...
  - gizmo686 8y ago
    40% is only 2x as likely as random chance. Still, I am not sure that the bottom 5th is what we want to be looking at. I would like the think that the insidious effects of poverty don't start until well below the 1/5 mark.
    - acover 8y ago
      It seems to say that the to be in the bottom fifth in the US household income must be less than $22,095 (2001)[0]. That's very close to the federal poverty line. Not exactly but close. The way news an documentaries talk about the poverty trap I was expecting 80%+. [0] - http://ftp.iza.org/dp1938.pdf http://ftp.iza.org/dp1938.pdf
      - gizmo686 8y ago
        Adjusting for inflation, that would be $31,615 in todays dollars, or about 150% the poverty level for a family of 3. Not great, but I would still expect someone at that level to have substantially better odds than someone below the poverty line.
        acover 8y ago
        The poverty line for a family of 3 was $14,630. So you are basically right. Remember it includes all the people below that level.
    - jononor 8y ago
      Half of Americans don't even have the savings to front a 400USD emergency bill. I'd say that's a pretty unrobust economic situation. Shit does happen, and not having the money to deal with it will cause more problems.
      - danielvf 8y ago
        That oft quoted stat is a bad interpretation of a survey question that asked “How would you pay for an unexpected $400 expense?” with one choice being “from a savings account”. That’s not the same thing at all as having the money at all - for example, many in the upper 50% would just use their debit card, or put it on a credit card for a month for frequent flyer miles.

paulddraper 8y ago

In the same way that there was a War on Drugs [1] there was a War on Poverty [2], the New Frontier [3], and the Great Society [4] a decade earlier. [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_on_drugs https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_on_drugs [2] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_on_Poverty https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_on_Poverty [3] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Frontier https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Frontier [4] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Society https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Society

Karishma1234 8y ago

> Once you're poor, it's very hard to get out of poverty. What % of people born in poverty are not poor by the time they are 30 ? Does anyone have that number ? My intuition is that the number is higher.

bytematic 8y ago
You think that a majority of people make it out of poverty by 30? If someone thought that, they have a very closed off view of the world, even the U.S.
acover 8y ago
I don't know if this is a reputable source, however it claims in the USA 40% of men raised in the bottom fifth end up in the bottom fifth. That is about 4x as likely as a man in the top fifth.[0] This is much lower than I expected. [0] - https://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2012/01/social-mobility-america/ https://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2012/01/social-mobili...
- gizmo686 8y ago
  40% is only 2x as likely as random chance. Still, I am not sure that the bottom 5th is what we want to be looking at. I would like the think that the insidious effects of poverty don't start until well below the 1/5 mark.
  - acover 8y ago
    It seems to say that the to be in the bottom fifth in the US household income must be less than $22,095 (2001)[0]. That's very close to the federal poverty line. Not exactly but close. The way news an documentaries talk about the poverty trap I was expecting 80%+. [0] - http://ftp.iza.org/dp1938.pdf http://ftp.iza.org/dp1938.pdf
    - gizmo686 8y ago
      Adjusting for inflation, that would be $31,615 in todays dollars, or about 150% the poverty level for a family of 3. Not great, but I would still expect someone at that level to have substantially better odds than someone below the poverty line.
      - acover 8y ago
        The poverty line for a family of 3 was $14,630. So you are basically right. Remember it includes all the people below that level.
  - jononor 8y ago
    Half of Americans don't even have the savings to front a 400USD emergency bill. I'd say that's a pretty unrobust economic situation. Shit does happen, and not having the money to deal with it will cause more problems.
    - danielvf 8y ago
      That oft quoted stat is a bad interpretation of a survey question that asked “How would you pay for an unexpected $400 expense?” with one choice being “from a savings account”. That’s not the same thing at all as having the money at all - for example, many in the upper 50% would just use their debit card, or put it on a credit card for a month for frequent flyer miles.