38 million poor and other statistics .. The other side of Great America

Mohamed Minshawi-Washington

The United States does not precede any country in the world in terms of material wealth and scientific progress. It ranks first in terms of gross domestic product, which this year exceeded $ 21 trillion.

The budget of any government ministry exceeds the budgets of medium-sized countries, for example, the defense budget this year is more than 800 billion dollars, which is larger than the total defense budgets of the next ten countries, including major countries such as Russia, China, India, Japan, Britain, France and others.

The United States has 100 companies among the top 500 in the world, and has seven of the world's top 10 universities.

The per capita GNP is more than $ 55,000 a year, placing it among the highest income groups in the world.

Yet millions of Americans are poor. How come? And why? Al Jazeera Net is trying to answer those questions.

What percentage of the poor?
Poverty is classified by US standards for a family of four if their annual income is less than $ 25.7 thousand, while the figure falls to about twenty thousand for a family of three people, and for a family of two people 16 thousand and 247 dollars, and a person becomes poor if his annual income less than 12 Alpha and $ 784.

In this category, 12.9% of American women and 10.6% of Americans, approximately 38 million citizens. These ratios increase among minorities.

At least 12 million children, nearly a sixth of all American children, live below the poverty line, and 14.3 million Americans receive government coupons to buy subsidized food.

How many are homeless?
The number of homeless people reached 553,000 last year. The percentage of men among them rises to 70%, and whites represent 49% of the homeless.

What about health insurance?
The number of Americans without health insurance reached 30.4 million in 2018. But at the same time, no hospital can refuse to receive and treat patients, and the cost is dealt with at a later stage.

Is there an American default on debt?
No one applies. Federal laws prohibit the imprisonment of a person for financial debts or the inability to meet financial obligations to other persons, banks, banks or hospitals.

But their penalties are as follows:

- Direct deduction of salary if you work

- Damage to your credit record, where you can not get any loans or the issuance of credit cards or loans to buy a car or housing.

- There is no imprisonment for any civil debts, and the only exception in the case of federal government tax debts in very few cases.

How many companies went bankrupt last year? How many people declared bankruptcy?
The number of companies declared bankrupt last year, 23 thousand and 103 companies, while 755 thousand people declared bankruptcy. A bankruptcy declaration means that all debts and financial obligations will be discontinued with no assets or property other than the place of residence.

The declaration of bankruptcy in most states allows erasing a person's bad financial record and giving him a fresh start after five to seven years, during which he freezes all his financial dealings.

How big is the government debt deficit?
Government debt amounted to 105% of the gross national product, and reached mid-year this year to $ 23 trillion.

What is the unemployment rate?
The United States currently has the lowest percentage of unemployed in the last half century, reaching 3.5% last September. The average hourly wage was $ 28.

What are the richest states?
Maryland, a neighbor of Washington, tops the list with an average per capita income of 80,776 dollars last year. New Jersey, next to New York City, was second with an average per capita income of 80,88 dollars a year. Hawaii finished third with an average per capita income of 77,765 dollars a year.

.. and the poorest?
West Virginia is the poorest state with an average per capita income of $ 439 469, with a poverty rate of 19.1% of its total population of 1.9 million.

Mississippi comes again with an average per capita income of 43,529 dollars, and the percentage of poor in this state 19.8%, the highest in the United States.

In third place is Arkansas with an average annual income of $ 45,869, and the poverty rate in the state is 16.4% among its population of three million people.

Are there citizens without electricity, water and heating gas?
None, all housing is connected to these services. Some, however, face financial difficulties that may not pay for these services.

But services are rarely cut as a result of uncollected costs, and in many cases local governments subsidize energy prices for the poorest.

The average monthly electricity cost for a family of four is $ 95, water is $ 60 and gas is $ 85.

What is the cost of primary, intermediate and secondary education?
The government provides free and compulsory education from the age of five to the end of secondary school in all states.

This includes study-related services such as the use of school buses to deliver pupils, meals, health care and school supplies.

What are free government services?
In addition to pre-university education, local governments provide public libraries in various provinces and districts. These libraries include free internet access, study and meeting rooms, book and loan service, free English lessons and computer principles.

Local governments also provide stadiums, sports arenas and swimming pools for all ages and for all sports such as tennis, basketball, American football, baseball and football.