AMERICA, POVERTY IS FAR FROM DESTITUTION
When the Census Bureau releases its annual report on income and poverty today, it will announce that more than 30 million Americans are "living in poverty." But the bulk of the "poor" actually live in material conditions better than those considered comfortable just a few generations ago.
In fact, total spending per person among the lowest income one- fifth of households actually equals that of the average American household in the early 1970s, after adjusting for inflation.
According to federal government reports:
In 1995, 41 percent of all poor households owned their own homes -- with the average home consisting of three bedrooms, 1-1/2 baths, a garage and a porch or patio.
Only 7.5 percent of poor households are overcrowded, and 70 percent of them own a car.
Ninety-seven percent of poor households have a color television, nearly three-quarters have a videocassette recorder, 64 percent own a microwave oven, half have a stereo system and 25 percent have an automatic dishwasher.
Two-thirds of poor households have air conditioning -- compared to only 36 percent of the entire U.S. population 30 years ago.
Some 84 percent of the poor say their families have "enough" food to eat, while only 3 percent say they "often" do not have enough to eat. Poor children actually consume more meat than do higher- income children and their average protein intake is double the recommended level. On the average, most poor children today grow up to be one inch taller and 10 pounds heavier than the GIs who stormed the beaches of Normandy in 1944.
Some analysts contend the Census Bureau's income reporting is inaccurate. While 1996 Commerce Department figures show aggregate personal income of Americans at $6.8 trillion, the Census Bureau pegged it at only $4.8 trillion. The $2 trillion difference represents roughly $20,000 for each U.S. household.
Source: Robert Rector (Heritage Foundation), "America Has the World's Richest Poor People," Wall Street Journal, September 24, 1998.
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CANADIANS WAITED LONGER IN 1997
Waiting lists for medical procedures and treatments
are an accepted part of Canada's national health
care system. The Fraser Institute's annual survey
of medical specialists found that about 8.5 percent
more Canadians were waiting for medical treatment
in 1997 than in 1996, and the median waiting time
was a week longer.
Across Canada, an estimated 187,416 people were
waiting for surgical procedures compared to 172,766
in 1996.
Since 1993, the waiting time to see a specialist
after referral by a general practitioner has
increased 37.8 percent.
After seeing a specialist, patients waited 6.8
weeks before receiving the medical procedure in
1997, up from 6.2 weeks in 1996.
By comparison, the median time specialists consider
to be clinically reasonable to wait for various
surgical procedures after seeing a specialist was
4.2 weeks.
The total wait from the time a patient is referred
to a specialist until treatment was a week longer
than the year before -- 11.9 weeks compared to 10.9
weeks in 1996.
Waiting times varied widely among the provinces --
from 5.4 weeks in Ontario to 12.4 weeks in
Saskatchewan -- and by surgical specialty. For the
12 surgical specialties studied, the wait for
treatment exceeded the previous year's, and was
longer than specialists considered reasonable.
The longest waits for treatment were for
ophthalmology (24.6 weeks), orthopedic surgery
(20.7 weeks) and elective cardiovascular surgery
(18.2 weeks).
The shortest average wait was 3.5 weeks for cancer
patients being treated with chemotherapy.
The largest difference between clinically
acceptable and actual waits was for elective
cardiovascular surgery, where patients waited 8.9
weeks longer than considered reasonable.
Patients also have to wait for diagnostic tests
using modern medical technology: 2.6 weeks for
ultrasound, 4.1 weeks for computerized tomography
and 9.6 weeks for magnetic resonance imaging.
Source: Cynthia Ramsey and Michael Walker, "Waiting
Your Turn: Hospital Waiting Lists in Canada (8th
edition),"Critical Issues Bulletin, July 1998,
Fraser Institute, 2nd Floor - 626 Bute Street,
Vancouver, B.C., Canada V6E 3M1, (604) 688-0221.
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