The following are facts about persons defined as "poor" by the Census Bureau,
taken from a variety of government reports:

46 percent of all poor households actually own their own homes. The average home
owned by persons classified as poor by the Census Bureau is a three-bedroom
house with one-and-a-half baths, a garage, and a porch or patio.

80 percent of poor households have air conditioning. By contrast, in 1970, only
36 percent of the entire U.S. population enjoyed air conditioning.

Only six percent of poor households are overcrowded; two thirds have more than
two rooms per person.

The typical poor American has more living space than the average individual
living in Paris, London, Vienna, Athens, and other cities throughout Europe.
(These comparisons are to the average citizens in foreign countries, not to
those classified as poor.)

Nearly three quarters of poor households own a car; 31 percent own two or more
cars.

97 percent of poor households have a color television; over half own two or more
color televisions.

62 percent have cable or satellite TV reception.

89 percent own microwave ovens, more than half have a stereo, and a more than a
third have an automatic dishwasher.