Friday 26th May 2023
Difficulty: Very easy
(Unsplash)
Questions inspired by the Observer article "Matthew Desmond: ‘The poverty rate in America and the UK should be zero – and I think we can get there’", by Tim Adams.
1. If America's poor founded a country it would have a bigger population than...?
2. How many Americans don’t have running water or a flushing toilet at home?
3. According to the article, the annual cost of taking those millions of people in America who are living below the poverty line (i.e. without a secure roof over their head, or enough to eat, or keep warm, or access to healthcare) and getting them above it, would be $177bn. How many of these statements about that figure are true?
- It is less than 1% of the USA's GDP
- Americans throw away more than that amount of food each year
- If the top 1% paid just the taxes they owe, it would close the $177bn gap at a stroke
- it would benefit everyone, not just the poor
- it would increase opportunity and create a far more educated workforce
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