logo
  • Nonprofit News
  • Management
    • Boards and Governance
    • Communication
      • Framing & Narratives
    • Ethics
    • Financial Management
    • Fund Development
    • Leadership
    • Technology
  • Philanthropy
    • Corporate Social Responsibility
    • Donor-Advised Funds
    • Foundations
    • Impact Investing
    • Research
    • Workplace Giving
  • Policy
    • Education
    • Healthcare
    • Housing
    • Government
    • Taxes
  • Economic Justice
    • Economy Remix
    • Economy Webinars
    • Community Benefits
    • Economic Democracy
    • Environmental Justice
    • Fair Finance
    • Housing Rights
    • Land Justice
    • Poor People’s Rights
    • Tax Fairness
  • Racial Equity
  • Social Movements
    • Community Development
    • Community Organizing
    • Culture Change
    • Education
    • Environment
    • Gender Equality
    • Immigrant Rights
    • Indigenous Rights
    • Labor
    • LGBTQ+
    • Racial Justice
    • Youth Activism
  • About Us
  • Log in
  • CONTENT TYPES
  • Webinars
    • Leading Edge Membership
    • Sponsored Webinars
    • Economic Justice
  • Tiny Spark Podcast
  • Magazine
    • Magazine
    • Leading Edge Membership
Donate
Poverty, United Nations

The World Class Poverty in America’s Booming Economy

Martin Levine
February 2, 2018
Share263
Tweet107
Share21
Email
391 Shares
“Poverty” by Paul Downey

January 24, 2018; New York Times and the Brookings Institution

From the depths of the Great Recession, the US economy has seen nine years of strong growth. Employment has increased, and the unemployment rate has declined to a historically low level of 4.1 percent. Wages, which were stagnant during much of this period of growth, have begun to inch up. The recent rewriting of the Federal Tax Code has spurred many employers to further sweeten the pot with bonuses, salary increases, and improved benefits. Yet, with all those positive signs, a significant number of Americans are quietly living at a level of poverty that rivals any in the world. The need appears to be so great that one Nobel Prize-winning economist has been prompted to shift his philanthropic priorities, signaling a challenge to the overall sector.

How bad is the situation? Over the first two weeks of December, Professor Philip Alston, United Nations Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, visited the United States. His findings, perhaps surprising, painted a very disturbing picture as he compared how the US, one of the world’s wealthiest nations, compares to other developed nations:

  • US health care expenditures per capita are double the OECD.…But there are many fewer doctors and hospital beds per person than the OECD average.
  • US infant mortality rates in 2013 were the highest in the developed world.
  • Americans can expect to live shorter and sicker lives.
  • U.S. inequality levels are far higher than those in most European countries.
  • In terms of access to water and sanitation, the US ranks 36th in the world.
  • The youth poverty rate in the United States is the highest across the OECD, with one-quarter of youth living in poverty compared to less than 14 percent across the OECD.
  • The Stanford Center on Inequality and Poverty ranks the most well-off countries in terms of labor markets, poverty, safety net, wealth inequality, and economic mobility. The US comes in last of the top 10 most well-off countries, and 18th amongst the top 21.
  • In the OECD, the US ranks 35th out of 37 in terms of poverty and inequality.
  • US child poverty rates are the highest amongst the six richest countries—Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Sweden and Norway.

Using $4 per day as a standard for defining extreme, “world class” poverty, Nobel Prize winning economist Angus Deaton found that even in a time of economic expansion, there are 5.3 million Americans who meet that standard and live at the very bottom of our economy. Writing an op-ed in the New York Times, he observed, “This is a small number compared with the one for India, for example, but it is more than in Sierra Leone (3.2 million) or Nepal (2.5 million), about the same as in Senegal (5.3 million) and only one-third less than in Angola (7.4 million). Pakistan (12.7 million) has twice as many poor people as the United States, and Ethiopia about four times as many.”

Extreme need is a “high standard” when considering who needs help, even in a growing economy. A recent look at the realities of job growth by the Brookings Institution illustrates that there are many who will need assistance over the long term.

Well into year nine of this expansion, the number of employed Americans with high school diplomas contracted by 2,095,000, and the number of people working without a high school diploma fell by 900,000. The share of all job gains claimed by Americans with some college but no B.A. degree was just over half their share of the labor force. Through it all, the number of college-educated Americans with jobs jumped by 11,909,000. That’s 1,253,000 more than the total 10,656,000 net new jobs created across the economy, suggesting that college grads are also now claiming new jobs that used to go to people without a B.A. degree.”

Because, as Rick Cohen observed a number of years ago in NPQ, “the nonprofit sector and the infrastructure that support it are crucial delivery mechanisms for fighting concentrated poverty and social inequity—and the sources of the most effective policy and program models for state and federal policy-makers to emulate and fund.

At a time when the burdens of responding to these millions of men and women who face the pain of extreme poverty and the many more who live somewhat above this level fall on the nonprofit community, the conclusion Deaton has drawn from this reality will be heartening and provide a way to reposition the need for philanthropic giving at home.

For years…the needs of poor Americans (or poor Europeans) have received little priority relative to the needs of Africans or Asians. As an economist concerned with global poverty, I have long accepted this practical and ethical framework. In my own giving, I have prioritized the faraway poor over the poor at home. Recently, and especially with these insightful new data, I have come to doubt both the reasoning and the empirical support. There are millions of Americans whose suffering, through material poverty and poor health, is as bad or worse than that of the people in Africa or in Asia.

Alston observed that “There is no magic recipe for eliminating extreme poverty, and each level of government must make its own good faith decisions. But at the end of the day, particularly in a rich country like the USA, the persistence of extreme poverty is a political choice made by those in power. With political will, it could readily be eliminated.” The current administration does not see those in need as a priority.

Writing in the Chronicle of Philanthropy almost five years ago, Pablo Eisenberg worried that “matters of poverty seem to be off the radar screen of nonprofits. Most nonprofits…remain satisfied in pursuing their more-narrow agendas, whether related to the environment, education, or gay marriage. They show little concern about the ravages brought on the country by income inequality, homelessness, hunger, and unemployment.”

If government won’t take the lead, and the nonprofit and philanthropic community won’t either, we are going to see the richest country in the world allow itself to move up the rankings.—Martin Levine

Share263
Tweet107
Share21
Email
391 Shares

About The Author
Martin Levine

Martin Levine is a Principal at Levine Partners LLP, a consulting group focusing on organizational change and improvement, realigning service system to allow them to be more responsive and effective.Prior to forming Levine Partners, Mr. Levine served the CEO of JCC Chicago creating a purpose driven organization, continuously realigning service and management systems to responsively and effectively fulfill JCC Chicago’s mission.Over the past 35 years Mr. Levine made major contributions to the transformation of JCC Chicago to its present position as a pre-eminent JCC in North America. Mr. Levine focused on strengthening the JCC’s effectiveness as a Jewish Community Building and Jewish Educational organization dedicated to “Bringing Jewish Values to Life” in all aspects of JCC programs and services.Mr. Levine was been responsible for the development of new facilities as part of JCC Chicago’s response to the changing demography of the Metropolitan Jewish Community. In addition, Mr. Levine had responsibility for guiding the Chicago JCC’s integration of its service and business strategies into a holistic approach.In addition to his JCC responsibilities, Mr. Levine served as a consultant on organizational change and improvement to school districts and community organizations.Mr. Levine has published several articles on change and has presented at numerous conferences on this subject.Mr. Levine held membership in many professional organizations including the Association of Jewish Center Professionals (Board member), Association for the Advancement of Social Work with Groups, Association for Quality and Participation, and the Future Search Alliance.A native of New York City, Mr. Levine is a graduate of City College of New York (BS in Biology) and Columbia University (MSW). He has trained with the Future Search and the Deming Institute.Mr. Levine served as President of the Gan Project, an organization committed to engaging communities in locally and ethically produced food.

Related
The Future Is Now: Oxfam Says Climate-Related Disasters Displace 20 Million a Year
By Steve Dubb
December 3, 2019
In San Diego’s School District, Teacher Placement Reinforces Inequality
By Steve Dubb
November 19, 2019
What We Should Ask of the 2019 Nobel Economic Science Prize Winners
By Rob Meiksins
October 24, 2019
UN Summit Pales Next to Global Outcry for Action
By Erin Rubin
September 24, 2019
The Hidden Narrative of Racial Inequity in Puerto Rico
By Cyndi Suarez
August 26, 2019
UN Report Details Climate Impact on Our Dwindling Land Resources
By Steve Dubb
August 12, 2019
other posts by The Author
School Segregation? Not a Problem, Says DeVos
By Martin Levine
December 6, 2019
Should Philanthropists Replace Government?
By Martin Levine
December 3, 2019
“Free” Does Not Mean Free in West Virginia Prisons
By Martin Levine
December 2, 2019
A Series on Sensemaking Organizations
The Sensemaking Organization: Designing for Complexity
The Sensemaking Mindset: Improvisation over Strategy
Structuring for Sensemaking: The Power of Small Segments
logo
Donate
  • About
  • Contact
  • Newsletters
  • Write for NPQ
  • Advertise
  • Writers
  • Funders
  • Copyright Policy
  • Privacy Policy

Subscribe to View Webinars

We are using cookies to give you the best experience on our website.

 

Non Profit News | Nonprofit Quarterly
Powered by GDPR plugin
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.