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Other data are also troublesome, including a new Rockefeller Foundation/Yale University Political Science Professor Jacob Hacker study, titled "Standing on Shaky Ground: Americans' Experiences with Economic Insecurity," described as "the first study to detail how economic insecurity affects the well-being of Americans."
It said in the 18 months preceding fall 2009, 93% of households experienced at least one "substantial economic shock." Hacker explained:
"This new report shows the extent to which American families have been rocked by economic shocks whose consequences include not just worry but also real economic hardship. This report dashes the notion that economic disruption is limited to low-income families by revealing that many middle-class and even upper-middle class (ones) are unable to meet basic needs."
Across the board, misery measures are rising, including unemployment, homelessness, hunger, food stamp usage, and inadequate income for essentials. While America's aristocracy gets richer, middle and lower income workers struggle to get by. Many can't because policy initiatives are few and inadequate.
WPFP explains that:
"The divide between higher and lower-income families goes beyond economics. Increasingly, families from different economic strata are also sorted into different neighborhoods, schools, and social networks. These families and their children are at risk of becoming isolated from educational and economic opportunities that could provide a path out of poverty."
Instead, growing numbers are getting poorer and more in need at a time less aid is allocated to help them. It's a shocking indictment of a dysfunctional system, the America dream gone bust except for society's most privileged.
Increasing Poverty in Israel
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