16 points
The severity of destitution at the bottom of the social order skyrocketed from the late 70s onward thanks to austerity policies.
1 point
https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2022/04/20/how-the-american-middle-class-has-changed-in-the-past-five-decades/ You’ll need to provide some sources for that. This data suggests that poverty levels haven’t varied much in the last 50 years. Middle class has shrunk but this did not appear to impact poverty rates.
11 points
1 point
Unemployment rates are not poverty rates. And those have been pretty stable since 1950. Less than 4% in 2018 and 2019 for example.
https://www.thebalancemoney.com/unemployment-rate-by-year-3305506
