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“ Safety-net hospitals and clinics care for a population heavily skewed toward the poor, recent immigrants and people of color. The budgets of these places are forever tight. And anyone who works in them could tell you that illness in our patients isn’t just a biological phenomenon. It’s the manifestation of social inequality in people’s bodies.” The New York Times, April 11, 2024

I bookmarked a few interesting articles that I thought I’d share as we close the month of April. The pieces deal with specific poverty issues, but at the same time reflect the larger themes of The Poverty Trap. See what you think.

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— First up is the Times article quoted above, an opinion piece written by a doctor serving in a public hospital treating mostly the uninsured or people on Medicaid. He said working there is like holding up a mirror to our country…and the reflection is not pretty.

…despite spending the highest percentage of its G.D.P. on health care among O.E.C.D. nations, the United States has a life expectancy years lower than comparable nations—the U.K. and Canada— and a rate of preventable death far higher.

— This is a fascinating CNN piece about the number of people working well past traditional retirement age, and not because they want to…. many simply can’t afford today’s cost of living, including their medical care and prescription drugs. Social security and/or pensions don’t fully cover their bills each month, so they feel lucky to nab a job.

Americans over 75 are the fastest-growing age group in the workforce, more than quadrupling in size since 1964, according to the Pew Research Center. Forecasters expect that cohort of older, working Americans to double over the next decade.

— This is another CNN piece that a friend sent me recently — thank you, George! It’s about a form of white privilege, or “The White Bonus” as the title of the article and recently published book describe the financial benefits of being white. A white journalist and author, Tracie McMillan decided to calculate the amount of money she has received in her lifetime as a result of her race (and she’s still a young woman!).

…she estimates, amount to $371,934.30. To calculate that number, McMillan tallied those benefits and divided them into two categories: A family bonus, which includes money her parents spent on her college tuition, educational loans she got from her grandfather and an inheritance; and a social bonus, which includes jobs, apartments and access to credit she’s gotten throughout her life. Those resources and capital, she concludes, wouldn’t have been available to her if it weren’t for her race.

Call me crazy, but if you’re interested in facts to back up your opinions, this is the book for you.

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Here’s to some “light”reading on a few core poverty issues—let me know what you think in the Comments Section below.

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And as always…