chicagotribune: Where the poor and rich really spend their moneyLawmakers in several states are urgi
chicagotribune: Where the poor and rich really spend their moneyLawmakers in several states are urging limits on how welfare recipients use public benefits, suggesting that the poor are buying things like lobster, filet mignon, vacations aboard cruise ships and visits to psychics. It’s an open question whether the problem these proposals aim to solve actually exists, but the Bureau of Labor Statistics just helpfully released new data on how the poor – and the rich – spend their money.For the first time, the bureau released this data for 10 equally sized classes of U.S. households, sorted by income. While the bureau doesn’t have data on lobster and filet mignon, the survey does provide a fascinating level of detail. So what is this article trying to prove exactly?It’s seems to be this underlying message that says that poor people aren’t really that poor because they can spend more on basic necessities and small luxury items. (Which is total bull because wealth inequality is real a problem.)(Also, here’s a better link, because you can’t read the original link without getting redirected after ads.) -- source link
#economy#socioeconomics#poverty#income#wealth