[Grizzly]

Damn.

I do have one qeustion: This is the lowest level since 1993. What happened in 1993?

[Mort]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_1990s_recession

I'm guessing that was it. Time to brush up on my chinese it seems

[Nuke]

vivisect the rich!

[Marcov]

Isn't America going down as world power?

As much as I know, sooner or later China will be next world power.

[Grizzly]

Isn't America going down as world power?

As much as I know, sooner or later China will be next world power.

Well, this might be an indication that the USA is indeed going down. However, it might not be a good indicator (A world power does not need to have equal income distribution). And China did get 10 years to catch up to the USA whilst it was busy fighting wars.

[Scotty]

I'd also like to bring up that the poverty line is, by and large, rather arbitrary.  My family lives comfortably in a middle class lifestyle with almost zero debt (barring mortage) and enough disposable income to use on more than just basic needs.  This is less than $25,000 a year, single parent, three member household.  In other words, just barely above the official poverty line.  Yet, you could make absolutely zero argument aside from that line that my family is poor.  With a nice house (and a $1000/month mortgage), and more than just the basic necessities like a cell phone plan for all three of us, high speed internet and cable, two vehicles, and sending me through college.

tl;dr poverty line is probably better considered an 'at-risk indicator' than it is an absolute indicator of poverty.

[Mongoose]

Yeah, the "poverty line" in the US is certainly liveable, albeit without much of a margin for unexpected expenses.  Still, it's a troubling statistic.

[Mars]

I'm just above the poverty line. . . and I'd have to say, it's not terrible, but it's not like I'm going to concerts every other week. I can get food, and mostly bus passes, but some weeks I have to do without a little of one or the other.

EDIT: When you get down to it, the poverty line is supposed to indicate a point where all of your money goes into rent/food/heat/ cost of living type stuff, and it does a pretty good job of indicating that. Where I am I have probably $50 that doesn't go into clothing / feeding / sheltering myself, and the place I'm living now isn't even a legal residence.

[Kosh]

I'd also like to bring up that the poverty line is, by and large, rather arbitrary.  My family lives comfortably in a middle class lifestyle with almost zero debt (barring mortage) and enough disposable income to use on more than just basic needs.  This is less than $25,000 a year, single parent, three member household.  In other words, just barely above the official poverty line.  Yet, you could make absolutely zero argument aside from that line that my family is poor.  With a nice house (and a $1000/month mortgage), and more than just the basic necessities like a cell phone plan for all three of us, high speed internet and cable, two vehicles, and sending me through college.

tl;dr poverty line is probably better considered an 'at-risk indicator' than it is an absolute indicator of poverty.

Just wait until you get whacked with a nice big medical expense.

[Mobius]

...or other stuff like the necessity to buy a new car after an accident.

[Scotty]

Both of which are nicely covered by insurance, thank you very much.  I realize that a very big helping hand in that direction is that my dad is retired military, so I've got decent coverage, but if necessary I'm damn sure my dad would be able to come up with it.  Cars likewise (insured, that is), as is the house.  We only really use one vehicle, so we've got, in effect, a spare.

[Kosh]

Both of which are nicely covered by insurance, thank you very much.  I realize that a very big helping hand in that direction is that my dad is retired military, so I've got decent coverage, but if necessary I'm damn sure my dad would be able to come up with it.  Cars likewise (insured, that is), as is the house.  We only really use one vehicle, so we've got, in effect, a spare.

Retired military, so it must government insurance. Too bad the majority of people don't have access to it.

[Sushi]

Yeah, the "poverty line" in the US is certainly liveable, albeit without much of a margin for unexpected expenses.  Still, it's a troubling statistic.

Also keep in mind that the national "poverty line" is a fixed number, but living expenses vary wildly by region.

[Mongoose]

Yes, very true.  My family's modest 4-bedroom house would probably go for over $400k on the local market if we put it up for sale, which could practically buy you a small mansion in some parts of the South.

[Mars]

How are we talking about cars here? At 12,000 a year I can afford bus fare, but a car is way out of reach

[Polpolion]

I'm on track to earn $10,000 this year and I'm perfectly fine. 

Spoiler:

My University tuition is covered by a met plan, and by the time I exceed the credit limit I'll have saved up enough for the last few remaining credits. Also living in a cooperative helps. It's almost like cheating at life!

[achtung]

Both of which are nicely covered by insurance, thank you very much.  I realize that a very big helping hand in that direction is that my dad is retired military, so I've got decent coverage, but if necessary I'm damn sure my dad would be able to come up with it.  Cars likewise (insured, that is), as is the house.  We only really use one vehicle, so we've got, in effect, a spare.

Most people with low income only have liability coverage for their vehicles, and they usually can't afford the premiums for health insurance.

[karajorma]

http://www.cracked.com/blog/5-things-nobody-tells-you-about-being-poor/

Found that rather interesting when I first read it, and I thought it was relevant here.

[Grizzly]

I read trough that now, I think a lot of that only applies to America.

or atleast I hope so.

[Polpolion]

I read trough that now, I think a lot of that only applies to America.

or atleast I hope so.

I'm interested in hearing your reasoning behind this.