Why Are a Recoed Number of Americans Living In Poverty?

The caption of this post comes directly from a Time article that looks at the abysmal state of the "American Dream" in the aftermath of 8 years of misrule by Chimperator Bush and the GOP Congress. Yes, Obama has dropped the ball and dropped it badly. But the main obstacle to helping fellow citizens are Republicans and members of the Tea Party who care nothing for the poor, the sick or the homeless - even though the vast majority of them outwardly wrap themselves in the flag and religion. Indeed, most of the Gospel message is ignored and/or thrown into the trash by these self-centered hypocrites. I enjoy money and the good life as much as the next person, but I do NOT condone leaving families homeless and hungry while I strive to hoard money and possessions for myself - all as I wear religion on my sleeve. Unfortunately, the media - including Time - are all too reticent to go after the Christianists and the GOP and label them to be the frauds, liars and hypocrites that they are based on objective fact. Here are some story highlights:
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The US Census Bureau is out with its annual report on poverty and incomes today and the results are striking: The number of people living in poverty in the US is at an all time high. The last time this many people were living in poverty in the US was in the late 1950s. In 2009, 43.6 million people lived on the equivalent of less than $5,500 a year. That was up from 39.8 million Americans in 2008. The 2009 number means that more than 1 in every 7 Americans live in poverty.
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Why is poverty a worse problem in this recession? It comes back to the particularly sticky unemployment problem this time around. Poverty is certainly not helped by jumps in unemployment, but the big driver of poverty is not just joblessness but persistent unemployment. And people loosing their job and not being about to get back into the workforce has been a particularly bad problem in this recession. In August, the percentage of unemployed people who have been out of a job more than six months was 42% [See chart below]. Second, income equality is a lot worse in the US than it used to be. The Census measures inequality by something called the Gini index. Back at the beginning of the 1980s, the Gini index stood at 0.374. It is now 0.458. That's a jump of 22%. And when you have more people living on the edges of the income scale, unemployment can quickly push the people on the bottom into poverty.
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The problem is these two issues, long-term unemployment and income inequality, while made worse by recessions, are not just recession problems. They are the result of big structural problems in the economy. Recovery or not, high poverty rates may be with us for some time.