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As the rich grow in numbers, so do the poor

By Maxine Shapiro, KERA 90.1 commentator

Dallas, TX – So the rich are getting richer, and unfortunately the poor are growing in numbers. I'm Maxine Shapiro with KERA Marketplace Middays.

In a recent survey conducted by Houston-based Media Audit, they found that the number of affluent households actually increased in 2001. Co-chairman of Media Audit, Bob Jordan, told me that "some researchers had actually been predicting a decline of three and four percent." Media Audit surveys 85 metro markets with a combined adult population of approximately 128 million.

So what exactly were these numbers? Last year, the number of annual household incomes with liquid assets of $75,000 or more grew from 22.6% to 24.3%. This is of all adults surveyed. And astonishingly, the households over $100,000 grew to 12.7% from 11.9%. You have to think back to the economic environment last year to realize just how amazing this is. Now, as the population base grew, so did the actual number of households with an annual income under $25,000, though the percentage stayed approximately at a high 16%.

And in Dallas/Fort Worth, affluent households basically stayed the same with a slight increase in the over-$100,000 bracket. But most disturbingly, we saw our largest increase in households under $25,000. It went up almost three full percentage points to 16.5% in 2001. Two questions we can ask ourselves in the Metroplex: why are there so many poor and what can we do about it? For KERA Marketplace Middays, I'm Maxine Shapiro.

 

Marketplace Midday Reports air on KERA 90.1 Monday - Friday at 1:04 P.M.