Western poverty

Surprisingly enough, a major news source is covering western poverty. Hurray for the BBC for having the guts to point out a problem affecting the world as a whole, not just the developing world. Although this article states that the UK poverty line for a family of four is £16,492 (US$ 32,702), the official government statement is £13,520 (US$ 26821). That is quite a difference in income levels (£2,972 or US$5,894). Their source was the Report of the Rural Advocate 2007; the other, which I found, was from The Poverty Site. It is a service of the New Policy Institute, a charitable “progressive think tank”.

I find it interesting to note that the US poverty line for a family of four in 2008 is US$21,200 (£10,694). That is a major difference between two supposedly equal western nations.

Poverty is something we must of think of as it relates to our neighbors (or neighbours), not just those on a continent thousands of miles away.