How are we, at this moment, measuring who's living in poverty?ĭESMOND: Poverty measurement's very complicated. That was when the national poverty rate was around 19%. RASCOE: There was a war on poverty that was declared some 50 years ago. And then we have the audacity to ask, how can we afford to drive down poverty in this country? - even though the country does a lot more to subsidize affluence? We protect lavish tax breaks that accrue to the wealthiest Americans, and that starves anti-poverty spending. We invest in companies that have a record of union busting and exploitation. RASCOE: So how do the rest of us who are not in poverty benefit by keeping people poor?ĭESMOND: We consume cheap goods and services. MATTHEW DESMOND: Thank you so much for having me. The book is called "Poverty, By America," and Matthew Desmond joins us now. In a new book, sociologist Matthew Desmond argues there's another reason why poverty grows so persistently here - because those who are better off benefit from it. Why does a country as wealthy as the United States have so many living in poverty? The reasons are many - predatory financial services, stagnant wages, rising housing costs.
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