How Poor Are Poor Americans?

America’s population in poverty in 2009 reached 43.6 million, the highest in 51 years, according to the income, poverty and health insurance report published by the U.S. Census Bureau on Sept. 16, 2010. The report has resulted in many controversies. President Barack Obama responded that the rising poverty rate means that the effects of the economic crisis still linger, and the current economic situation is still severe. However, Obama has also stated that the plans he launched not too long ago, including his plans to cut taxes, increase incomes, as well as his health insurance reform, will gradually make the lives of the working class better.

In any society, poverty is an inevitable issue that needs to be addressed, even in America, which is a highly developed economy. But compared to the United Nations’ poverty threshold, not only are poor Americans not poor, they are actually rather wealthy. The poverty standard set by the U.N. is an annual income of $365 per capita. The 2009 poverty line set by the U.S. Census Bureau for a household of four people was $22,000 (150,000 Yuan), almost 20 times higher than the international standard. Moreover, the U.S. 2009 poverty threshold only included cash income before taxes, and left out accrued wealth like property, as well as government subsidies of food stamps and other non-cash relief.

I once read a very popular blog post on the internet, in which the author of the article, Mr. Lei Qiao, decried the living situations of today’s poor Americans. Forty-six percent of poor American families actually own their own house. A typical house for poor Americans includes three bedrooms, one and a half bathrooms, one garage and one balcony. Only six percent of poor families live in crowded quarters. Seventy-five percent of poor American families have a car, and 30 percent of those in the 75 percent own two cars. Seventy-six percent of poor families have air conditioners. In addition, social welfare expenditures equal nine percent of American GDP. Therefore, compared to the last two generations, the material lives of today’s poor Americans are actually rather comfortable.

We should also note that with an “olive-shaped” income distribution, America has a large number of middle class families whose annual income is over $50,000. The rich do not shy away from philanthropy, and it can even be said that they are the world’s model for philanthropy. This generosity naturally sustains a harmonious and stable society. That being said, media and government agencies still bring up the poverty issue from time to time to call for greater social attention and action. Political interests are also involved in this issue. The congressional mid-term elections will be held this November; in an economic climate where the unemployment rate is high and the economy is struggling to recover, the voters will have to decide whether to let the Democratic Party continue to control Congress or let the Republican Party take over. Therefore, according to the Associated Press, this report was released at a politically sensitive time.

The Chinese media should report on the situation in a fair and unbiased way in order to give readers a clear understanding of poverty in America. It should not gloat at America’s expense when its shortcomings are spotted. Especially when reporting news, the media should break the long established “three-three policy” in broadcast news — “show how busy our leaders are in the first 10 minutes, show how the people are living happy lives in the next 10 minutes, and show how people around the world are living in misery in the last 10 minutes.” This broadcast model might work in an era of isolation, but in the present age where most information is received through the Internet, any biased report will be discredited. More importantly, China has become increasingly confident. We no longer need to lie to ourselves that everything is good, nor do we need to “save three-quarters of the world’s population from their miserable lives.” What we need to do is to be fair and realistic, to be confident and to build a better life for ourselves by learning from other countries’ mistakes.

Let us compare our own poverty line with the intentional standard. There are 14.79 million people living in “absolute poverty.” Their annual income is less than 786 Yuan ($112). There are 43 million people living in “relative poverty,” and their annual income is less than 1,067 Yuan, or $152 (Nanfang Daily, Jan. 1, 2009). If the international poverty standard is used, the population in China living in poverty is possibly over 150 million. In comparison, poor Americans are not actually living in poverty, and the growing number of people in poverty is only a minor headache for an affluent society.