80 Percent Of U.S. Adults Face Near-Poverty, Unemployment: Survey

[Igel]

17. Hey, I'm one of those.

Graduated college, couldn't find work and then found part-time and seasonal work that kept me in poverty.

Then again, that was in 1981-82. But I'm part of that 80%.

My wife was, too. Granted, she had a job lined up before she graduated college, but still--there were 2 months in there two years ago when she was unemployed. So she's part of that 80%.


It's a statistic to scare people. Terrorist journalism. They make the numbers as big as possible by including people that really shouldn't be included. Most of the people in poverty face these problems chronically, but the number of people who face it chronically isn't a truly huge percentage. By including people like me and my wife it devalues the number. "Hey, if I'm included and I've done okay for the last 32 years, then maybe all the other people in poverty are just hitting a rough patch, and next month or two months later they'll be back to their $50 k/year jobs ... too."

Yes, there's a problem there. But bad numbers aren't the way to propagandize it.