Sept 27 Poverty 09 27 2011 Poverty is defined by our government as According to the U S Census Bureau statistics released Sept 13 2011 the nations poverty rate rose to 15 1 in 2010 46 million the highest level since 1993 The poverty rate was 14 3 in 2009 43 6 million and 13 2 in Class is a combination on one s economic political educational and 2008 29 8 million Class More than Money social standing Combination of o Income o Education o Occupation o Wealth community she is from etc Don t project your assumptions on another person group or Don t assume class based on what someone is wearing where he or The only thing journalists have to sell is our credibility Gender Poverty Woman still earn less than men o The wage gap has narrowed since the 1980 s Most families in poverty are headed by females In total numbers there are more whites in poverty than in other o Possibly because they are still the dominant race Policies that hurt the poor disproportionately hurt certain racial and Geography Poverty Urban vs Rural Race Poverty racial groups ethnic groups Real World consequences Zoning o Noise pollution o Environmental waste o Property values o Crime Taxes vs Welfare o Investments and charity donations o Tax deduction for home ownership pensions Transportation o Days open o Holidays o Operating on time Voting o Tuesday elections Class and Katrina People who could afford cars were able to leave People who could afford plane tickets could leave There was a good job of getting the word out but those without access to television and internet weren t able to be informed When houses were rebuilt they were built nicer so the people who fled them came back and couldn t afford them Eventually we got bored with the story other things happened Why didn t people leave o People with lower jobs couldn t just take off work to leave They couldn t afford it o Some people wanted to protect their homes o Some people had no where to go Even if they left they couldn t afford a hotel to stay anywhere else o People reliant on government assistance social security and unemployment benefits their checks go to their home Leaving New Orleans means you don t get that check The High Cost of Being Poor The popular misconception is that poverty in America is mainly an urban phenomenon o Almost 1 in 5 rural kids is poor 18 9 in 2000 o Rates of rural child poverty are higher than urban child poverty for all kids and for every minority group o Of the 50 U S counties with the highest child poverty rates 48 are located in rural America Many low income families and especially those living in high poverty communities end up paying too much for food shelter transportation credit and financial services Transportation to get to Work o Lack of rural public transportation o Small towns don t have bus systems o Buying and owning a car is expensive o Subprime car loans are about double or triple the interest or prime rate new car loans Prime loans mean you have good credit and good credit history The bank believes you will have no problem paying it back You re very low risk Sub prime means if you can secure the loan you re going to pay more for the same amount of money because the bank is taking on more risk Child care While You re At Work o Child care averages 4 000 6 000 per year around the county and families with younger children or with more than one child in care face even greater costs if infant care is event available Earning Tax of income Credit and Financial Services o Loss of needs based assistance such as child care help housing subsidies and Medicaid after reaching a certain level o Real financial security is dependent on a family s ability to build savings and accumulate assets to protect themselves from emergencies and risk o Low income rural areas undeserved by mainstream financial institutions o If you don t have a bank you have reliance on check cashing outlets payday lenders and other fringe industries o Prime vs subprime Basic Needs Food o Families in low income rural communities without supermarket access pay 17 5 more than the USDA recommended budget for basic food items o You re paying more for the same thing Basic Need of Housing o More than 5 4 million renter families either spend more than half of their income for housing or live in severely distressed housing according to HUD Accepted standard is 30 of one s income toward housing o Low income families spend almost 20 of annual income on energy bills For all other consumers that proportion is about 4 Basic Need for Medical Care o In a 2002 annual census bureau survey 83 of people earning 75 000 or more reported having health insurance offered by their employers compared with only 26 of those earning 25 000 or less o Medical care can quickly become medical debt Food Inc diabetes 1 in 3 children born after 2000 will develop an early onset of In minorities that number will be 1 in 2 The family in the video had the choice of buying vegetables and healthier foods or paying for the fathers medicine What are schools actually feeding children Years ago there was a initiative to make school lunches healthier how is that going Schools offering nutrition classes 09 27 2011 Sept 29 Privilege Is an unearned advantage access to power or dominance a person possesses because of group membership It relates to class gender race ethnicity sexual orientation religion age ability status citizenship weight perceived attractiveness perceived intelligence etc Those with privilege are often unconscious of their privilege its negative consequences Acknowledging privilege isn t a judgment of those with privilege It is an example of learning double consciousness o The more language and words that we know the more we understand other cultures concepts and social problems How Privilege Instantiates Itself in Journalism Lack of respect for subject Reinforcing stereotypes about other groups don t go for an Story Ideas Neo traditional stories stories about group and not from group Us looking at them We ll explain the poor to you Unusualness conflict news values Only writing about the bad authentic story things Business and marketing assumption that business is good o Nestle and Baby Formula Better for babies because it has extra nutrients but it s not better because they didn t think about how you mix formula with water That s assuming there s available and safe water in Latin America Also you can t dilute it to make it last because then the baby won t get the nutrients it needs o