(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - Data exclusive to the Associated Press indicate that a growing gap between rich and poor in the US and lack of well-paid manufacturing jobs are two of the reasons why a majority of American adults are having hard times during their lives.
The AP data showed that while racial and ethnic minorities are still more likely to live in poverty, the number of poor whites has grown significantly since the 1970s.
With 46.2 million Americans, that constitute 15 percent of the US population, living below the line of poverty, over 19 million whites, or 41 percent of the nation's destitute, are poor.
Moreover, the data showed that if the current trend of growing income inequality continues in the US, by 2030, nearly 85 percent of American adults will experience economic insecurity during periods of their lives.
Economic insecurity for adults is defined as experiencing unemployment during their working age and relying for a year or more on government aid like food stamps.
According to the AP data, also the number of poor working-class whites in the US has increased faster than that of working-class nonwhites since 2000.
Also, a growing number of children in the US are not getting enough food to eat at home signaling a rise in demand for free food.
A recent report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation titled "2013 Data Book, State Trends in Child Well-being" has found that child poverty in the U.S. has soared to unprecedented levels, with over 16 million children now affected. The report gives a chilling account of child poverty in the world's largest economy.
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