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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