When I was a small child we lived in the United Kingdom for a couple of years just before the Thatcher revolution. In the years afterward, after we were back in the states and I was a bit older I can remember my parents talking about how colossally messed up Britain was economically. The 1970s weren’t great for America, but for our friends across the pond they were far worse.
The federal government has just decided that poverty for family of 4 in New York City means an income of up to $37,500, not $22,500. Quite a leap. As before, the figure excludes earned income tax credit cash checks from the government and also medical and other non-cash assistance.