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      WASHINGTON (AP) — Squeezed by rising living costs, a record
number of Americans - nearly 1 in 2 - have fallen into poverty or
are scraping by on earnings that classify them as low income.


      The latest census data depict a middle class that's shrinking as
unemployment stays high and the government's safety net frays. The
new numbers follow years of stagnating wages for the middle class
that have hurt millions of workers and families.


      "Safety net programs such as food stamps and tax credits kept
poverty from rising even higher in 2010, but for many low-income
families with work-related and medical expenses, they are
considered too `rich' to qualify," said Sheldon Danziger, a
University of Michigan public policy professor who specializes in
poverty.


      "The reality is that prospects for the poor and the near poor
are dismal," he said. "If Congress and the states make further
cuts, we can expect the number of poor and low-income families to
rise for the next several years."


      Congressional Republicans and Democrats are sparring over
legislation that would renew a Social Security payroll tax
reduction, part of a year-end political showdown over economic
priorities that could also trim unemployment benefits, freeze
federal pay and reduce entitlement spending.


      Robert Rector, a senior research fellow at the conservative
Heritage Foundation, questioned whether some people classified as
poor or low-income actually suffer material hardship. He said that
while safety-net programs have helped many Americans, they have
gone too far. He said some people described as poor live in
decent-size homes, drive cars and own wide-screen TVs.


      "There's no doubt the recession has thrown a lot of people out
of work and incomes have fallen," Rector said. "As we come out of
recession, it will be important that these programs promote
self-sufficiency rather than dependence and encourage people to
look for work."


      Mayors in 29 cities say more than 1 in 4 people needing
emergency food assistance did not receive it. Many formerly
middle-class Americans are dropping below the low-income threshold
- roughly $45,000 for a family of four - because of pay cuts, a
forced reduction of work hours or a spouse losing a job.


      States in the South and West had the highest shares of
low-income families, including Arizona, New Mexico and South
Carolina, which have scaled back or eliminated aid programs for the
needy. By raw numbers, such families were most numerous in
California and Texas, each with more than 1 million.


      The struggling Americans include Zenobia Bechtol, 18, in Austin,
Texas, who earns minimum wage as a part-time pizza delivery driver.
Bechtol and her 7-month-old baby were recently evicted from their
bedbug-infested apartment after her boyfriend, an electrician, lost
his job in the sluggish economy.


      After an 18-month job search, Bechtol's boyfriend now works as a
waiter and the family of three is temporarily living with her
mother.


      "We're paying my mom $200 a month for rent, and after diapers
and formula and gas for work, we barely have enough money to
spend," said Bechtol, a high school graduate who wants to go to
college. "If it weren't for food stamps and other government money
for families who need help, we wouldn't have been able to
survive."


      About 97.3 million Americans fall into a low-income category,
commonly defined as those earning between 100 and 199 percent of
the poverty level, based on a new supplemental measure by the
Census Bureau that is designed to provide a fuller picture of
poverty. Together with the 49.1 million who fall below the poverty
line and are counted as poor, they number 146.4 million, or 48
percent of the U.S. population. That's up by 4 million from 2009,
the earliest numbers for the newly developed poverty measure.


      The new measure of poverty takes into account medical, commuting
and other living costs as well as taxes. Doing that pushed the
number of people below 200 percent of the poverty level up from the
104 million, or 1 in 3 Americans, that was officially reported in
September.


      Broken down by age, children were most likely to be poor or
low-income - about 57 percent - followed by seniors 65 and over. By
race and ethnicity, Hispanics topped the list at 73 percent,
followed by blacks, Asians and non-Hispanic whites.


      Even by traditional measures, many working families are hurting.


      Following the recession that began in late 2007, the share of
working families who are low income has risen for three straight
years to 31.2 percent, or 10.2 million. That proportion is the
highest in at least a decade, up from 27 percent in 2002, according
to a new analysis by the Working Poor Families Project and the
Population Reference Bureau, a nonprofit research group based in
Washington.


      Among low-income families, about one-third were considered poor
while the remainder - 6.9 million - earned income just above the
poverty line. Many states phase out eligibility for food stamps,
Medicaid, tax credit and other government aid programs for
low-income Americans as they approach 200 percent of the poverty
level.


      The majority of low-income families - 62 percent - spent more
than one-third of their earnings on housing, surpassing a common
guideline for what is considered affordable. By some census
surveys, child-care costs consume close to another one-fifth when a
mother works.


      Paychecks for low-income families are shrinking. The
inflation-adjusted average earnings for the bottom 20 percent of
families have fallen from $16,788 in 1979 to just under $15,000,
and earnings for the next 20 percent have remained flat at $37,000.
In contrast, higher-income brackets had significant wage growth
since 1979, with earnings for the top 5 percent of families
climbing 64 percent to more than $313,000.


      A survey of 29 cities conducted by the U.S. Conference of Mayors
released Thursday points to a gloomy outlook for those on the lower
end of the income scale.


      Many mayors cited the challenges of meeting increased demands
for food assistance, expressing particular concern about possible
cuts to federal programs such as food stamps and WIC, which assists
low-income pregnant women and mothers. Unemployment led the list of
causes of hunger in cities, followed by poverty, low wages and high
housing costs.


      Across the 29 cities, about 27 percent of people needing
emergency food aid did not receive it. Kansas City, Mo.; Nashville,
Tenn.; Sacramento, Calif.; and Trenton, N.J., were among the cities
that pointed to increases in the cost of food and declining food
donations. Mayor Michael McGinn in Seattle cited an unexpected
spike in food requests from immigrants and refugees, particularly
from Somalia, Burma and Bhutan.


      Among those requesting emergency food assistance, 51 percent
were in families, 26 percent were employed, 19 percent were elderly
and 11 percent were homeless.


      "People who never thought they would need food are in need of
help," said Mayor Sly James of Kansas City, Mo., who co-chairs a
mayors' task force on hunger and homelessness.
    

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Social Issues

Squeezed by rising living costs, a record
number of Americans - nearly 1 in 2 - have fallen into poverty or
are scraping by on earnings that classify them as low income.

Census shows 1 in 2 people are poor or low-income

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