1M2rgVL. One NYC family's struggle to survive on a fast food salary | Video. GWEN IFILL: High unemployment has been one of the nation’s most vexing problems since the recession. But, increasingly, there are also mounting concerns about what constitutes a good job and a fair wage in an era of rising inequality. It’s a story that won’t go away. Tonight, Hari Sreenivasan reports on a fast-food worker trying to make a living in New York City. HARI SREENIVASAN: Twenty-five-year-old Shenita Simon has worked at a Kentucky Fried Chicken in Brooklyn, New York, for two years.
She’s a full-time shift supervisor, helping manage other workers and filling in wherever she’s needed, from being a cashier to running the fryer. Do you get benefits? SHENITA SIMON, resident of New York City: No. HARI SREENIVASAN: And all this for how much an hour? SHENITA SIMON: I currently get paid $8 an hour. HARI SREENIVASAN: After taxes, that wage translates into about $270 a week in take-home pay, and with that, she is supporting a household of seven. There’s seven people in your house?
Www.cbpp.org/files/pullingapart2012/United_States.pdf. Www.cbpp.org/files/pullingapart2012/Hawaii.pdf. Income Inequality. College-Educated Americans Take Bigger Share of the Income Pie This links to a posting about the growing share of U.S. household income that goes to college-educated households, who take home a disproportionate share of aggregate income. Income Trends and Gaps This posting links to an article by Pew Research Center’s Rick Fry on four takeaways from the Census Bureau’s release of annual income and poverty data.
A Rise in Wealth for the Wealthy; Declines for the Lower 93% During the first two years of the nation’s economic recovery, the mean net worth of households in the upper 7% of the wealth distribution rose by an estimated 28%, while the mean net worth of households in the lower 93% dropped by 4%, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of newly released Census Bureau […] A Recovery No Better than the Recession The median income of American households decreased by as much in the two years after the official end of the Great Recession as it did during the recession itself. Report: World's 85 richest have same wealth as all of bottom 50 percent. The world's elite have rigged laws in their own favor, undermining democracy and creating a chasm of inequality across the globe, international organization Oxfam said in advance of the annual get-together of the world's most powerful in Davos, Switzerland.
Inequality has run so out of control, that the 85 richest people on the planet are worth nearly as much as the poorest 50 percent of the world's population, Oxfam said in a new report on widening disparities between the rich and poor. The report exposes the "pernicious impact" of growing inequality that helps "the richest undermine democratic processes and drive policies that promote their interests at the expense of everyone else," the statement said.
Inequality has emerged as a major concern in countries around the world, with President Barack Obama prioritizing a push to narrow the wealth gap in his second term. But the wealth gap in America is still growing. Robert Reich: Where is the angry middle-class revolution? Paul Ryan is wrong: Wealthiest Americans are not “makers,” they’re mercenary takers. Progressive Kristallnacht Coming? — Letters to the Editor. Zidisha Launches A Kickstarter-Style Micro-Lending Platform For Low-Income Entrepreneurs In Developing Countries. When it comes to lending and borrowing money, banks have long been at the center of the equation. However, with the proliferation of new information technologies, mobile devices and the good old Web, new methods of borrowing and lending have emerged that are slowly toppling the bank-centric model. The best and most promising example is peer-to-peer lending, which leverages technology to directly match those who need money with those who have money to invest, while cutting out the middle man.
By enabling the efficient flow of capital across international boundaries and wealth divisions, and by allowing lenders to connect with and send money directly to borrowers, peer-to-peer micro-lending has the ability to have an enormous impact — on a global scale. However, while a handful of organizations and institutions have attempted it, direct P2P lending across international wealth divides has never been done before at scale, says Julia Kurnia. So Kurnia decided to change that. Abercrombie talks about homelessness | Politics. 2014 Gates Annual Letter: Myths About Foreign Aid - Gates Foundation. More and more, technology will help in the fight against corruption. The Internet is making it easier for citizens to know what their government should be delivering—like how much money their health clinic should get—so they can hold officials accountable.
As public knowledge goes up, corruption goes down, and more money goes where it’s supposed to. Aid Dependence Another argument from critics is that aid holds back normal economic development, keeping countries dependent on generosity from outsiders. This argument makes several mistakes. Second, the “aid breeds dependency” argument misses all the countries that have graduated from being aid recipients, and focuses only on the most difficult remaining cases. Even in sub-Saharan Africa, the share of the economy that comes from aid is a third lower now than it was 20 years ago, while the total amount of aid to the region has doubled.
Critics are right to say there is no definitive proof that aid drives economic growth. Wealth Inequality in America. Bill Nye, Science Guy, Dispels Poverty Myths. Third World Debt Undermines Development. Author and Page information by Anup ShahThis Page Last Updated Sunday, June 03, 2007 Debt reduction has been delayed for many years because governments have been unwilling to admit they have made bad loans, and it is only pressure by Jubilee 2000 and other groups that has made the difference, admits a former IMF and British Treasury insider in a candid article in the prestigious journal Development Policy Review (September 1999). — Ex-IMF Director admits creditors refuse to acknowledge bad lending, Jubilee 2000, October 20, 1999. Debt has crippled many developing countries. Often based on loans taken out by prior rulers and dictators (many of which various Western nations put into power to suit their interests), millions face poorer and poorer living standards as precious resources are diverted to debt repayment. 11 articles on “Third World Debt Undermines Development” and 2 related issues: Causes of the Debt Crisis Last updated Sunday, June 03, 2007.
The Scale of the Debt Crisis Debt kills. Paul Piff: Does money make you mean? Educationfirst-facts. Www.jrf.org.uk/sites/files/jrf/2288.pdf. Www.jrf.org.uk/sites/files/jrf/2289_0.pdf. Www.jrf.org.uk/sites/files/jrf/2285.pdf. How The Rich Get Richer. Types of Social Inequality.