Dynamics of Poverty, the Destitute Index

Politics / Social Issues
Sep 06, 2010 - 03:01 AM

By: Mike_Shedlock

In response to Reflections on the "Recovery" reader "Thomas" has an interesting question regarding U6 unemployment that I would like to share.

Thomas writes ...

Dear Mish,

Always look forward to your analysis. One small question. How many living, breathing, frustrated, suffering, hopeless, and poverty stricken actual human beings does the U-6 number 17.6% translate to? Thank you. Best Regards,

Thomas

Here is the chart in question once again.



One year ago the official unemployment rate was 9.7%. Today it is 9.6%.One year ago U-6 unemployment was 16.8%. Today U-6 is 16.7%

For links to the actual numbers behind the percentages, please see Jobs Decrease by 54,000, Rise by 60,000 Excluding Census; Unemployment Rises Slightly to 9.6%; A Look Beneath the Surface. http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article22423.html

Essential Math

Officially unemployed - 14.9 million unemployed
Marginally Attached Workers - 2.4 million
Part Time For Economic Reasons - 8.9 million

The total is 26.3 million but not all of the above are destitute or in poverty, even though the vast majority of them are suffering in some way.

Unfortunately, the total does not stop there because it does not include children or elderly. Both children and the elderly have been affected by the economic downturn, but neither reflects in unemployment stats.

Food Stamps

Most of the destitute are on food stamps (now called SNAP - Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program to destigmatize the name).

According to SNAP, there are 41,275,411 on food stamps. However, that total is understated because it does not include the homeless. In addition, one must factor in AFDC (Aid to families with dependent children), Head Start, and numerous other state programs. One cannot add them all up because of obvious overlap.

Homeless

The Coalition for the Homeless addresses the question How Many People Experience Homelessness? http://www.nationalhomeless.org/factshe ... _Many.html

There are several national estimates of homelessness. Many are dated, or based on dated information. For all of the reasons discussed above, none of these estimates is the definitive representation of "how many people are homeless.â€