Social insurance and earned benefit programs will touch nearly all Americans during their lifetimes, as most people draw Social Security when they retire or rely on government funded medical care in old age. In 2015, the U.S. will spend $900.5 billion on Social Security alone.
It has become crystal clear during this pandemic that working people fuel this economy, but they’re the ones bearing the cost.
For the 140 million people who are poor, or one emergency away from being poor, we know it's necessary to present a comprehensive response to the systemic racism, poverty, ecological devastation, militarism, and war economy plaguing our country today. This Poor People’s Moral Budget asks, given the resources of our society, whether these demands are also possible. Our answer is a resounding yes.
In 2017, 140 million people in the United States were living in poverty or on the verge of poverty using this measure.
With everything changed since 2019, and official poverty measures for 2020 still far in the future, we asked: what has become of the 140 million during the pandemic?
Learn more about the interlocking evils of systemic racism, poverty, militarism/the war economy, ecological devastation, and the distorted moral narrative of religious nationalism in your state!
