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Today the Census Bureau reported that the poverty rate in the U.S. is now 12.3% which is a 12.6% decline down from 12.6%.
The last significant decline in the poverty rate came in 2000, during the Clinton administration, when it went from 11.9 percent to 11.3 percent.
The poverty rate increased every year for the next four years, peaking at 12.7 percent in 2004. It was 12.6 percent in 2005, but Census officials said that change was statistically insignificant.
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The numbers get a bit more interesting when you look at the age breakdowns.
The real significant decline was in the over-65 set. For the working stiffs (18-64) the poverty level was higher and the median income lower than in 2001.
The census also reported today an increase of 2.2 million uninsured people over the last year.
Something that’s missing from the linked article that would be pretty helpful in understanding it is a description of how the official poverty rate is calculated. While, theoretically, it’s an absolute measure practically speaking it ain’t necessarily so because the definition of what constitutes the necessities of living for the purposes of the calculation have changed over time.
More importantly Dave, is that what is being measured is the number in poverty “before” any help they receive from the Govt. It does not include the effects of the EITC, of housing, of food stamps: it only includes direct cash transfers.
It’s a terrible measure actually, one that no other OECD country uses.
