15% of Americans live behind the poverty line

Record levels of poverty and unemployment, apparently, will be one of the main topics for the debate in future presidential elections and in the US Congress. The other day, the United States Census Bureau published data according to which 46.2 million. A person in the country live behind the poverty line – this is more than 15% of the population! At the same time, the situation is somewhat “decorate” unemployment benefits. If this income is removed, then 50 million can be reckoned with the poor. Americans.

Moreover, according to the bureau estimates, the average income of American families has decreased. $ 49.5 thousand. – This is the lowest indicator over the past 15 years. Thus, under the blow is the middle class of Americans.

Against the background of the general economic decline in optimism, published data, to put it mildly, do not cause. According to Ron Hesskins, a senior researcher at the Washington Brookings Institute, the US economy has been slowly but steadily slinging into the abyss for more than 10 years, despite some short -term improvements.

Of course, Washington is trying to take certain measures. In particular, Barack Obama President has already put forward a number of proposals for stimulating the labor market. The cost of “therapy” is $ 447 billion.

True, it is not clear how such a consumption will be combined with the desire of the relevant committee of Congress to reduce US budget deficit by one and a half trillion dollars?