Editing Economy of the United States (section)

===Poverty===
{{Main|Poverty in the United States}}
[[File:Number in Poverty and Poverty Rate 1959 to 2011. United States..PNG|thumb|upright=1.8|Number in poverty and poverty rate: 1959 to 2016. United States.]]
Starting in the 1980s [[relative poverty]] rates have consistently exceeded those of other wealthy nations, though analyses using a common data set for comparisons tend to find that the U.S. has a lower absolute poverty rate by market income than most other wealthy nations.<ref name="National Research Council">{{cite book |title=U.S. Health in International Perspective |url= http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=13497&page=171 |publisher=National Research Council and Institute of Medicine |access-date=April 8, 2013 |author1=Woolf, Steven |author2=Aaron, Laudon |year = 2013|pages=171–72|doi = 10.17226/13497|pmid = 24006554|isbn = 978-0-309-26414-3}}</ref> [[Extreme poverty]] in the United States, meaning households living on less than $2 per day before government benefits, doubled from 1996 levels to 1.5 million households in 2011, including 2.8 million children.<ref name=NatlPovertyCtr>[http://npc.umich.edu/publications/policy_briefs/brief28/policybrief28.pdf "Extreme Poverty in the United States, 1996 to 2011"] ''National Poverty Center'', February 2012.</ref> In 2013, [[child poverty]] reached record high levels, with 16.7 million children living in [[Famine scales#Combined intensity and magnitude scales|food insecure]] households, about 35% more than 2007 levels.<ref name=WalkerBBC>{{cite news|last=Walker|first=Duncan|title=The children going hungry in America|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-21636723|access-date=March 13, 2013|newspaper=BBC News|date=March 6, 2013}}</ref> As of 2015, 44 percent of children in the United States live with low-income families.<ref>[https://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/nccp-finds-44-percent-u-s-children-live-low-income-families/ Report finds 44 percent of U.S. children live in low-income families]. ''PBS Newshour''. April 6, 2015.</ref>

In 2016, 12.7% of the U.S. population [[Poverty in the United States|lived in poverty]], down from 13.5% in 2015. The poverty rate rose from 12.5% in 2007 before the [[Great Recession]] to a 15.1% peak in 2010, before falling back to just above the 2007 level. In the 1959–1962 period, the poverty rate was over 20%, but declined to the all-time low of 11.1% in 1973 following the [[War on Poverty]] begun during the Lyndon Johnson presidency.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.census.gov/library/publications/2017/demo/p60-259.html| title = U.S. Census Bureau{{snd}}Income and Poverty in the United States 2016}}</ref> In June 2016, The IMF warned the United States that its high poverty rate needs to be tackled urgently.<ref>[https://www.bbc.com/news/business-36599316 IMF warns the US over high poverty]. BBC, June 22, 2016.</ref>

[[File:Total US family wealth timeline by wealth group.png|thumb|250px|[[Wealth inequality in the United States]] increased from 1989 to 2013.<ref>{{cite news|title=Trends in Family Wealth, 1989 to 2013|url=https://www.cbo.gov/publication/51846|date=August 18, 2016|work=[[Congressional Budget Office]]}}</ref>]]
The population in extreme-poverty neighborhoods rose by one third from 2000 to 2009.<ref name="Concentrated Poverty">Kneebone, Elizabeth; Nadeau, Carey; Berube, Alan (November 3, 2011). [http://www.brookings.edu/research/papers/2011/11/03-poverty-kneebone-nadeau-berube "The Re-Emergence of Concentrated Poverty: Metropolitan Trends in the 2000s"]. ''[[Brookings Institution]].''</ref> People living in such neighborhoods tend to suffer from inadequate access to quality education; higher crime rates; higher rates of physical and psychological ailment; limited access to credit and wealth accumulation; higher prices for goods and services; and constrained access to job opportunities.<ref name="Concentrated Poverty" /> As of 2013, 44% of America's poor are considered to be in "deep poverty", with an income 50% or more below the government's official poverty line.<ref>Shah, Neil (October 11, 2013).[https://www.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304500404579127603306039292 U.S. Poverty Rate Stabilizes{{snd}}For Some]. ''[[The Wall Street Journal]]'' (New York).</ref>

According to the US [[Department of Housing and Urban Development]]'s Annual Homeless Assessment Report, {{As of|2024|lc=y}} there were around 771,480 [[Homelessness in the United States|homeless people in the United States]] on a given night, or about 23 of every 10,000 people.<ref>{{cite news |last=Singh|first=Kanishka |date=December 27, 2024|title=US homelessness rose by record 18% in latest annual data|url=https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-homelessness-rose-by-record-18-latest-annual-data-2024-12-27/|work=[[Reuters]] |location= |publisher= |access-date=February 13, 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Waldmeir |first=Patti |date=February 10, 2025 |title=The growing problem of child homelessness in the US|url=https://www.ft.com/content/c95893f4-1d7c-473a-a5fe-17b49acd56f1|work=[[Financial Times]] |location= |publisher= |access-date=February 13, 2025}}</ref> Almost two thirds stayed in an emergency shelter or transitional housing program and the other third were living on the street, in an abandoned building, or another place not meant for human habitation. About 1.56 million people, or about 0.5% of the U.S. population, used an emergency shelter or a transitional housing program between October 1, 2008, and September 30, 2009.<ref name=HUDhomeless2009>{{cite web|url=http://www.huduser.org/publications/pdf/5thHomelessAssessmentReport.pdf |title=HUD 5th Annual Homelessness Assessment Report to Congress, June 2010 |access-date=October 20, 2013}}</ref> Around 44% of homeless people are employed.<ref>[http://www.nationalhomeless.org/factsheets/employment.html Employment and Homelessness] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190526022516/http://www.nationalhomeless.org/factsheets/employment.html|date=May 26, 2019}}. ''[[National Coalition for the Homeless]],'' July 2009.</ref> Homelessness increased from 2016 to 2020, along with deaths among the homeless population.<ref>{{cite web | last=McCormick | first=Erin | title='Homelessness is lethal': US deaths among those without housing are surging | website=[[The Guardian]] | date=February 7, 2022 | url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/feb/07/homelessness-is-lethal-deaths-have-risen-dramatically | access-date=June 16, 2023}}</ref>

[[File:New Orleans Homeless Camp (Cropped).jpg|alt=A homeless camp under a highway bridge in New Orleans, LA|thumb|A homeless camp in New Orleans, March 2023]]

The United States has one of the least extensive social safety nets in the developed world, reducing both relative poverty and absolute poverty by [[Welfare's effect on poverty|considerably less than the mean for wealthy nations]].<ref name="Sme">{{cite journal |last1= Smeeding |first1= T.M. |year=2005 |title= Public Policy: Economic Inequality and Poverty: The United States in Comparative Perspective| journal= Social Science Quarterly |volume=86 |pages=955–83 |doi= 10.1111/j.0038-4941.2005.00331.x|doi-access= free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1= Kenworthy |first1= L. |year= 1999 |title= Do Social-Welfare Policies Reduce Poverty? A Cross-National Assessment| journal =Social Forces|volume = 77|issue=3|pages= 1119–39 |doi=10.1093/sf/77.3.1119|url= https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/160860/1/lis-wps-188.pdf}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author1=Bradley, D. |author2=E. Huber |author3=S. Moller |author4=F. Nielsen |author5=J.D. Stephens |name-list-style=amp|year=2003 | title = Determinants of Relative Poverty in Advanced Capitalist Democracies| journal = American Sociological Review | volume = 68 | issue = 1| pages = 22–51 | doi = 10.2307/3088901 |jstor=3088901|s2cid=144289954 }}</ref><ref>Kevin Drum (September 26, 2013). [https://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2013/09/we-can-reduce-poverty-if-we-want-we-just-have-want We Can Reduce Poverty If We Want To. We Just Have To Want To.] ''[[Mother Jones (magazine)|Mother Jones]].''</ref><ref>Gould, Elise and Wething, Hilary (July 24, 2012). [http://www.epi.org/publication/ib339-us-poverty-higher-safety-net-weaker/ "U.S. poverty rates higher, safety net weaker than in peer countries."] ''[[Economic Policy Institute]].''</ref> Some experts posit that those in poverty live in conditions rivaling the [[Developing country|developing world]].<ref>{{cite book |last= Temin|first=Peter|author-link=Peter Temin|date=2017 |title=The Vanishing Middle Class: Prejudice and Power in a Dual Economy|url=https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/vanishing-middle-class|publisher= [[MIT Press]]|isbn=978-0262036160}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last= Alston|first=Philp|date=December 15, 2017 |title=Extreme poverty in America: read the UN special monitor's report|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/dec/15/extreme-poverty-america-un-special-monitor-report|work=The Guardian |access-date=December 16, 2017}}</ref> A May 2018 report by the U.N. Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights found that over five million people in the United States live "in 'Third World' conditions".<ref>{{cite news |date=June 4, 2018|title="Contempt for the poor in US drives cruel policies," says UN expert|url=https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2018/06/contempt-poor-us-drives-cruel-policies-says-un-expert|work=OHCHR|access-date=June 6, 2018}}</ref> Poverty is the fourth leading risk factor for premature death annually, according to a 2023 study published in ''[[JAMA]]''.<ref>{{cite news |last=Danelski |first=David |date=April 17, 2023|title=Poverty is the 4th greatest cause of U.S. deaths|url=https://news.ucr.edu/articles/2023/04/17/poverty-4th-greatest-cause-us-deaths|work=news.ucr.edu|location= |access-date=June 23, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Brady|first1=David |last2=Kohler|first2=Ulrich|last3=Zheng|first3=Hui |date=2023|title=Novel Estimates of Mortality Associated With Poverty in the US|url= |journal=The Journal of the American Medical Association|volume=183 |issue=6 |pages=504–628|doi=10.1001/jamainternmed.2023.0276|pmid=37067817 |pmc=10111231 |access-date= }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Jarow|first=Oshan |date=July 14, 2023|title=Poverty is a major public health crisis. Let's treat it like one.|url=https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/23792854/poverty-mortality-study-public-health-antipoverty-america-deaths-poor-life-expectancy|work=Vox  |location= |access-date=September 3, 2023|quote=Their results find poverty is America’s fourth-leading risk factor for death, behind only heart disease, cancer, and smoking. A single year of poverty, defined relatively in the study as having less than 50 percent of the US median household income, is associated with 183,000 American deaths per year. Being in “cumulative poverty,” or 10 years or more of uninterrupted poverty, is associated with 295,000 annual deaths.}}</ref> Over the last three decades the poor in America have been [[Incarceration in the United States|incarcerated]] at a much higher rate than their counterparts in other developed nations, with penal confinement being "commonplace for poor men of working age".<ref>Bruce Western. [https://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/23042281?uid=3739896&uid=2&uid=4&uid=3739256&sid=21104624536741 Poverty Politics and Crime Control in Europe and America]. ''[[Contemporary Sociology]]''
Vol. 40, No. 3 (May 2011), pp. 283–86</ref> Some scholars contend that the shift to [[Neoliberalism|neoliberal]] social and economic policies starting in the late 1970s has expanded the penal state, retrenched the social [[welfare state]], deregulated the economy and criminalized poverty, ultimately "transforming what it means to be poor in America".<ref>Stephen Haymes, Maria Vidal de Haymes and Reuben Miller (eds), ''[http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415673440/ The Routledge Handbook of Poverty in the United States],'' (London: [[Routledge]], 2015), {{ISBN|0415673445}}, pp. [https://books.google.com/books?id=qnHfBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA3 3], [https://books.google.com/books?id=qnHfBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA346 346].</ref><ref>[[Loïc Wacquant]], ''[https://www.dukeupress.edu/Punishing-the-Poor/ Punishing the Poor: The Neoliberal Government of Social Insecurity] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190223135712/https://www.dukeupress.edu/Punishing-the-Poor/index-viewby%3Dtitle%26sort%3D.html |date=February 23, 2019}},'' ([[Duke University Press]], 2009), {{ISBN|082234422X}}, pp. 125–16, [https://books.google.com/books?id=NkyFsGi2erEC&pg=PT336 312]</ref><ref>Marie Gottschalk. ''[http://press.princeton.edu/titles/10731.html Caught: The Prison State and the Lockdown of American Politics].'' [[Princeton University Press]], 2014. {{ISBN|0691164053}} [https://books.google.com/books?id=CzDFCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA10 p. 10]</ref>

Sociologist [[Matthew Desmond]] writes in his 2023 book ''[[Poverty, by America]]'' that the US "offers some of the lowest wages in the industrialized world," which has "swelled the ranks of the working poor, most of whom are thirty-five or older."<ref>{{cite book |last=Desmond|first=Matthew |author-link=Matthew Desmond|date=2023 |title=[[Poverty, by America]]|url= |location= |publisher=Crown Publishing Group|page=62 |isbn=9780593239919}}</ref> Social scientist [[Mark Robert Rank]] asserts that the high rates of poverty in the U.S. can largely be explained as structural failures at the economic and political levels.<ref>{{cite book |last=Rank|first=Mark Robert |author-link=Mark Robert Rank|date=2023|title=The Poverty Paradox: Understanding Economic Hardship Amid American Prosperity|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hGewEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA4|location= |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|pages=4, 121 |isbn= 978-0190212636|quote=The tendency of our free market economy has been to produce a growing number of jobs that will no longer support a family. In addition, the basic nature of capitalism ensures that unemployment exists at modest levels. Both of these directly result in a shortage of economic opportunities in American society. In addition, the absence of social supports stems from failings at the political and policy levels. The United States has traditionally lacked the political desire to put in place effective policies and programs that would support the economically vulnerable. Structural failing at the economic and political levels have therefore produced a lack of opportunities and supports, resulting in high rates of American poverty. (p.121)}}</ref>