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About Herald and news. (Klamath Falls, Or.) 1942-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 5, 1963)
: ------ ... , , ........ . i ,, A w - . - ; . - . . , , , ' ...... ...... '.- - - . - - - - -v-m. . Afore 77fo7 J4 Millions Are Reported To Be Living In Poverty In This Country EDITOR'S NOTE: The Labor "epartmrnt innounced last k (hat L.S. employment "se in Jv to a record Mai of nearly 71 million Jobs. But 58 out ery 1.000 persons ho need Jobs don't have them. And many who do have jobs lrely earn enough to keep them alive. This is a report on the other side of the tracks on poverty. Poverty-First of Two Dispatches By LOLIS CASSELS WASHINGTON' iUPI-The av- sumption widely held today even among well-read people that mass poverty lias virtually disap peared from this country. In the midst of plenty, millions of Americans remain desperately poor. They may not be as close to actual starvation as some of the people who live in under developed countries. But their poverty is real and grinding, and all the harder to accept because it contrasts so painfully with the prosperity that surrounds them. How many poor people are there in America? The answer Average American Family Yearly Income: 1 1 CUT OF 5 . over $10,000 Poverty Prevails on Yearly Income Less Than: m ........ u ri n 1,750 $2,700 Total: 34 MILLION ciage American family had an income of $7,140 last year. One laniny out oi live had an income larger than $10,000. These are spectacular figures. They thoroughly justify the cliche that Americans are living in an "affluent society," enjoying the highest living standards the world has ever known. But they do not justify the as- depends on what income level you choose as a dividing line be tween mere deprivation and ac tual poverty. Dr. Robert J. Lampham, a Uni versity of Wisconsin economist now on tlie staff of President Kennedy's Council of Economic Advisers, believes it is conserva tive to say that poverty prevails in any household where a single Freedom Cost Runs High person is living on less than $1,250 a year, a couple on less than $1,7 jo. or a family of four on less than $2,700. J4 .Million In Poverty Applwng this yaroStock to the latest official figures on income distribution, he calculates that more than 34 million Americans are now living in genuine poverty. Others sav that Lampham's figures are too low. In a study pubiislied earlier this year, en titled "The Other America" (MacMillam, Michael Harrington estimates that from 40 million to 50 million Americans are "exist ing at levels beneath those neces sary for human decency. I no conference on economic progress asserts that at least 38 million persons fall into the "really poor" category. The AFL-CIO puts the figure at upwards of 42 million. Pinpointing a precise number of poor people is not terribly im portant. The significant fact on which all investigators agree is that a great many Americans from one-fifth to one-fourth of the total population are not sharing in the prevailing abundance. Who are the American poor? Why are they missing the gravy train? Before joining the White House staff. Dr. Lampham conducted a lengthy study of these questions for the Joint Congressional Lco nomic Committee. He found that about one-fourth of the very poor some 8.5 mil lion persons by his present cal culationsare over 65 years of age. They are living on inade quate retirement pensions, on the charity of relatives, or on "old age assistance" checks from public welfare agencies, which during !2 averaged just a little over $75 a month. Another major segment of the world of poverty is populated by Negroes. Because they often are under-educated, or because they lack tlie skills demanded by an increasingly technological society, or simply because they happen to have dark skins. Negroes are the "last to be hired and the first to be fired" in the North as well as tlie South. Seven .Million Negroes Dr. Lampham found about 7 million Negroes among his 34 million impoverished Americans. That's twice as many as would be expected on a purely statisti cal basis, since Negroes consti tute only 10 per cent of the U.S. population. Thus the circum stance of being born non-white doubles a person's chances of be ing poor. Aside from old age and race, the factors which loom largest in determining which families are poor are the sex and education level of the breadwinner. Only one American family out of 10 is headed by a woman. But these fatherless households whether made so by death, di vorce or desertion constitute 24 per cent of the families living on incomes of less man $2,000 a year. A woman who is trying to sup port young children without a husband or other male relative to earn a living is usually entitled to public welfare under the ever controversial "aid to dependent children" iADO program. Some Americans have farmed an un shakeable opinion that families on ADC have it pretty soil. This may be: But the figures show that tlie average ADC payment currently. is about $128 per month for a family of four. This comes to about $1,500 a year and is way under Lampham's "conservative" cut-olf line for real poverty. .Most Poorly. Educated Ally American youngster who is thinking of dropping out of school or who is merely wondering why he should work so hard to get an education should ponder another of Dr. Lampham's find ings. About two-thirds of the very poor families in the nation are lieaded by breadwinners who liave no education beyond gram mar school, i This figure include persons of both races and both sexes, and thus overlaps with some of the previous categories.! It is obvious, of course, tlial none of the factors cited by Dr Lampham age, sex. race or ed ucational level directly cause poverty. What they do is to make it hard to get and keep a good job. Tlie immediate cause of pov erty in nearly every instance is the unemployment or under-em-plovment of the family breadwinner. ANSWER TO A SCARE SAN FRANCISCO (L'PD - A post office clerk casually tossed a small package into a bin the oilier day, heard it begin to whis tle and summoned authorities. Army demolition experts arriv ed on tlie scene and carried the package gingerly to a parking lot. They unwrapped two small walkie-talkies, whose switches ap parently had been turned on. Even in a "full employment" economy, there would be some people who could not earn a de cent living. The farther a nation slips from full employment or, to put it differently, the higher its race of chronic unemployment Die bigger become its "pockets" of poverty. That's why Secretary of Labor Willard Wirtz calls unemploy ment "our No. 1 domestic prob lem." It is a problem that has been growing steadily worse in recent years. Its ramifications w ill be explored in another dis patch. HERALD AND NEWS, Klamath Falls. Ore. Monday, August 5, 1963 PAGE 5 lw m n wra mm PORTLAND (UP!) Convicted bank robber Richard James Young of San Diego had 45 min utes of freedom Friday, but is to pay a stiff penalty for it one year in jail for every 15 min utes. Federal Judge Gus J. Solomon sentenced the dapper 37-ycar-old gunman to the three-year term six hours after he freed himself from handcuffs and fled tlie Mult nomah County Courthouse. The term was added to an 18 year sentence Young drew earlier this week for his part in the $53, 000 holdup of the Fastport Plaza branch of the U.S. National Bank. Young speeded up the judicial process by pleading guilty to the escape charge and agreeing to immediate sentencing. Young was captured by a city policeman and two county dep uties as he attempted to get out of the ciy on a bus. More than $9000 taken in the bank robbery, the largest in Port land's history, is still missing. LOOKING FOR HOME LONDON (UPH The Sunday newspaper News of the World said Sunday it had been tipped Prince Rainier and Princess Grace of Monaco were looking ftr a 20-ropm summer residence near Dublin, Ireland. It said the royal couple "have been anxicus to return to the Emerald Isle where tlie princess has her roots.". Mrs. Wright's. Regular or Buttermilk. Open the carton, pop in the oven and bake. Delicious!' 8-oz. pkg. rrj Q .. The Furniture Sale of the Year! BUDGET FURNITURE'S Mid Summer Clean Up Sale SHOP TONITE Open Till 9:00 2410 So. 6th RGA mm jyiiCE Coldbrook, the margarine that's tops in flavor; tops in value. Per Pound Lalani Pineapple Juice. Treat yourself to a bit of Hawaiian sunshine. 46-oz. can AST This Week's Best Meat Buy Mandarin CLEM You'll wear a smile when you buy this famous brand at these money saving prices! Entire Stock -Women's, Teens, Girls Reg. to 19.95 13 off Original Prices Salict from our entir I toe It of this famous brand. Women's sixes, girls sites 3-6 and 7-1 4, and Teen sites. Cottons, acetate and cotton blends and power nets. One and 2-piece. Sportswear and Children's Shops Second Floor JL. Boys Swim TRUNKS Famous moke. Sites 8 16. Acetate, cotton, ond rubber blend. Reg. 3.98. V3 OFF 512 Main FrM Parking 3th and Klamath QUO BEEF Quality controlled. Lean and fresh. Town House 11 -ox. can I" I I I f!P Safeway Mild Cure AC Fresh Link Sausage "- 69 Buddig's, sliced dried beef. Oranges Wax Paper Brocade Soap Sun Up Cut-Rite, triple waxed. 125 ft. roll Multi-pack in a poly bac 10 ban 29 After shave lotion. 4-oz. btl. Plus tax 79' IV l f t sirmn kppt 32-oZ. A I Extra good served with lean lalves Liver sfewy bocon $1 oo 98 Safeway Produce ...Always Besf SWEET CQRM Colgate-Palmolive Cleaning Aids For outomatics 00 40-oi. 07 C Fab Detergents n, v..... PkS. $ 1 30 Ad Detergent Super Sud Yel Liquid Ajax Cleanser ZTh, 231 c Super Suds Hf0vy 6uVXX. 59c 61c For dishes. 22-oe. site Ajax Cleaner Liquid Ajax w"h So sky or hld bo,h for floor ond wolls. 00 iz. Ul 16-oz. ommonio. 28-01. btl 75c ,2.., 69c King Crab 98c Del Monte 7'2-oi. Baggies 35 Tear-off plastic bags. Sandwich C size. Pkg. of SO Florient 69 Room Deodorant in lovely frag- W A C ranccs. 7'a-ox. con 'J1 ".''pM Ears . $2.39 Choice Golden Ears. New Crop Loco I grown. Salad perfect. i-A Head Lettuce u .J Radishes Green Onions 145. J A Peaches Rcd 1 Cantaloupes ParPftfe Snapping fresh! Sweet nibbling Haven's. Wonderfully iweer Jumbo site Prices effective Monday, August 5 Ihrough Wednes- doy, August 7 ot Safeway in Klamoth Falls. We re serve limit rights. wt orvt 2 heads 25C 3 bin. 19c 3 ib, 25c 3 .b.. 49c 5 ,8, SI HHI COPYRIGHT, 1962. iAFEWAY STORtS, INCOKPOKA I Redeem Gold Bond Coupons Good Thru Aug. 10th This Week. 1
