Despite the importance and relative lack of awareness around this issue, colleges have not developed sustained curricula to study poverty. Whatever future profession students pursue, they should know that poverty is a chronic challenge in the U.S. and that there are policies and approaches that can help ameliorate it. We need an educational system that recognizes and understands poverty as a fundamental societal problem.
Although the U.S. has a higher GDP per capita than most developed nations, data from University of Wisconsin Professor Timothy Smeeding show that the percentage of U.S. population below the established relative-income poverty threshold (18 percent) is higher than 28 of 29 “rich nations.” Among “rich nations,” only Israel has a higher poverty rate. The U.S. ranks somewhat better based on market income alone (i.e., excluding taxes and government transfers) and on absolute thresholds, but it ranks low among developed nations by all income measures of poverty.
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Although the U.S. has a higher GDP per capita than most developed nations, data from University of Wisconsin Professor Timothy Smeeding show that the percentage of U.S. population below the established relative-income poverty threshold (18 percent) is higher than 28 of 29 “rich nations.” Among “rich nations,” only Israel has a higher poverty rate. The U.S. ranks somewhat better based on market income alone (i.e., excluding taxes and government transfers) and on absolute thresholds, but it ranks low among developed nations by all income measures of poverty.
READ MORE HERE