Recovery Quandary? (Teaching English as a Second Language Jobs Abroad in High Demand)

TEACHING ESL JOBS ABROAD IN HIGH DEMAND

Census shows 1 in 2 people are poor or low-income, Europe not far behind By Hope Yen, Associated Press | AP – 

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Squeezed by rising living costs, a record number of Americans — nearly 1 in 2 — have fallen into poverty or are scraping by on earnings that classify them as low income.

The latest census data depict a middle class that's shrinking as unemployment stays high and the government's safety net frays. The new numbers follow years of stagnating wages for the middle class that have hurt millions of workers and families.

"Safety net programs such as food stamps and tax credits kept poverty from rising even higher in 2010, but for many low-income families with work-related and medical expenses, they are considered too 'rich' to qualify," said Sheldon Danziger, a University of Michigan public policy professor who specializes in poverty.

"The reality is that prospects for the poor and the near poor are dismal," he said. "If Congress and the states make further cuts, we can expect the number of poor and low-income families to rise for the next several years."

Robert Rector, a senior research fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation, questioned whether some people classified as poor or low-income actually suffer material hardship. He said that while safety-net programs have helped many Americans, they have gone too far. He said some people described as poor live in decent-size homes, drive cars and own wide-screen TVs.

"There's no doubt the recession has thrown a lot of people out of work and incomes have fallen," Rector said. "As we come out of recession, it will be important that these programs promote self-sufficiency rather than dependence and encourage people to look for work."

Mayors in 29 cities say more than 1 in 4 people needing emergency food assistance did not receive it. Many formerly middle-class Americans are dropping below the low-income threshold — roughly $45,000 for a family of four — because of pay cuts, a forced reduction of work hours or a spouse losing a job.

States in the South and West had the highest shares of low-income families, including Arizona, New Mexico and South Carolina, which have scaled back or eliminated aid programs for the needy. By raw numbers, such families were most numerous in California and Texas, each with more than 1 million.

The struggling Americans include Zenobia Bechtol, 18, in Austin, Texas, who earns minimum wage as a part-time pizza delivery driver. Bechtol and her 7-month-old baby were recently evicted from their bedbug-infested apartment after her boyfriend, an electrician, lost his job in the sluggish economy.

"We're paying my mom $200 a month for rent, and after diapers and formula and gas for work, we barely have enough money to spend," said Bechtol, a high school graduate who wants to go to college. "If it weren't for food stamps and other government money for families who need help, we wouldn't have been able to survive."

Even by traditional measures, many working families are hurting.

The majority of low-income families — 62 percent — spent more than one-third of their earnings on housing, surpassing a common guideline for what is considered affordable. By some census surveys, child-care costs consume close to another one-fifth when a mother works.

Paychecks for low-income families are shrinking. The inflation-adjusted average earnings for the bottom 20 percent of families have fallen from $16,788 in 1979 to just under $15,000, and earnings for the next 20 percent have remained flat at $37,000. In contrast, higher-income brackets had significant wage growth since 1979, with earnings for the top 5 percent of families climbing 64 percent to more than $313,000.

A survey of 29 cities conducted by the U.S. Conference of Mayors released Thursday points to a gloomy outlook for those on the lower end of the income scale.

Across the 29 cities, about 27 percent of people needing emergency food aid did not receive it. Kansas City, Mo.; Nashville, Tenn.; Sacramento, Calif.; and Trenton, N.J., were among the cities that pointed to increases in the cost of food and declining food donations. Mayor Michael McGinn in Seattle cited an unexpected spike in food requests from immigrants and refugees, particularly from Somalia, Burma and Bhutan  (Census Bureau: www.census.gov & U.S. Conference of Mayors: www.usmayors.org/)

MEANWHILE ACROSS THE POND

In contrast, the risk of poverty tends to be relatively high in the Mediterranean and the Baltic states. Altogether around 75 million people in the EU are„ "at risk of poverty“. Countries with the highest poor population include France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain and the UK. The elderly face much higher poverty rates than children in Norway, Finland, Denmark and Cyprus. Cyprus as a clear out liner, with over half of the population aged 65 or over at risk of poverty. 

On the other hand, in 10 of the 26 countries studied here, children are exposed to a higher risk of poverty than the elderly. In Poland and Hungary in particular, children are around three times more likely to be poor than the elderly.

The euro area seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate was 10.3 % in October 2011, compared with 10.2% in September 2011; it was 10.1 % in October 2010. The EU-27 unemployment rate was 9.8 % in October 2011, compared with 9.7% in September 2011; it was 9.6 % in October 2010.

Among the Member States, the lowest unemployment rates were recorded in Austria (4.1 %), Luxembourg (4.7 %) and the Netherlands (4.8 %), and the highest rates in Spain (22.8 %), Greece (18.3 % in August) and Latvia (16.2 % in the second quarter of 2011).

Compared with a year ago, the unemployment rate fell in twelve Member States and increased in fifteen. The largest falls were observed in Estonia (16.1 % to 11.3 % between the third quarters of 2010 and 2011), Lithuania (18.3 % to 15.0 % between the third quarters of 2010 and 2011) and Latvia (19.3 % to 16.2 % between the second quarters of 2010 and 2011). The highest increases were registered in Greece (12.9 % to 18.3 % between August 2010 and August 2011), Spain (20.5 % to 22.8 %) and Cyprus (6.0 % to 8.2 %)

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/10/081031102640.htm

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