September 13, 2016

Chart of the Day #2: Poverty Rates Decline Sharply in 2015

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The latest estimate of poverty from the Census Bureau is similar to their estimate of income: the good news is that poverty dropped substantially in 2015, but the bad news is that we still have a ways to go before we reach pre-recession levels. Among working-age adults, poverty levels fell from 13.5 percent to 12.4 percent, a decline of nearly a tenth. However, the poverty rate among working-age adults was around 10-11 percent from 1990-2007:

The report claims that new estimates of poverty using the SPM, which should be more accurate than the old measure, are also available, but the URLs they provide lead nowhere. I guess they’re a little behind. Presumably this stuff will be available shortly.

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WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

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