An Economic Policy Institute report has found that:
- More than one in four full time employed males between the ages of 25-34 in the USA is now living below the poverty line. This means that they are employed full time on a wage of less than $11.49 US an hour.
- Between 1979 and 2013 the percentage of full time employed males in this age group living below the poverty line increased from 10.8% to 26.1%.
- Of those males aged between 35 and 44 the percentage below poverty level wages increased from 7.6% to 15.4%.
The position of women improved over the same period improved but from a far worse starting point and, despite the improvement, their position is still worse than working men’s.
Of full time working women aged between 25-34, 33.3 per cent were living below the poverty line in 1978 and this reduced to 30.5% in 2013. For those between 35 and 44, the percentage reduced from 36.2% to 23.8%.
Another report from the institute finds that over the same period the ratio of CEO to worker earnings in the USA increased from 122.6 to 1 (1978), peaking at 383 to 1 (in 2000) and was 295 to 1 in 2013.
Detroit- Industrial wasteland
Meanwhile, a report from Bloomberg, indicates that in the industrial wasteland of Detroit, infant mortality rates are now higher than in China, Mexico and Thailand. In 2010, non-whites made up 21 per cent of Michigan’s population but 43 per cent of infant deaths. 60% of children live in poverty compared to a nationwide rate of 22%.
In December 2013 the US bankruptcy court ruled that public sector employees’ pension funds are not protected under a federal Chapter 9 bankruptcy law. Public sector worker unions subsequently “agreed” to a 4.5% cut in public sector worker pensions fearing that if the matter was determined by the court the result would be worse. Beneficiaries of the city’s General Retirement System lose 4.5% of their pensions and lose cost of living adjustments altogether. This follows upon a wage freeze in 2010 and a pay cut of 10 percent and deep benefit cuts in 2012.
The City has recently begun disconnecting water services on a large scale, for all households that have not paid bills for two months. Around 3,000 customers will be cut off each week, and some 30,000 households are expected to be disconnected from water services over the next few months.