Poverty Increases Third Straight Year
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| Thu, 08-26-2004 - 6:10pm |
Census Data Shows Third Straight Annual Increase in Both Categories
By GENARO C. ARMAS, AP
WASHINGTON (Aug. 26) - The number of Americans living in poverty increased by 1.3 million last year, while the ranks of the uninsured swelled by 1.4 million, the Census Bureau reported Thursday.
It was the third straight annual increase for both categories. While not unexpected, it was a double dose of bad economic news during a tight re-election campaign for President Bush.
Approximately 35.8 million people lived below the poverty line in 2003, or about 12.5 percent of the population, according to the bureau. That was up from 34.5 million, or 12.1 percent in 2002.
The rise was more dramatic for children. There were 12.9 million living in poverty last year, or 17.6 percent of the under-18 population. That was an increase of about 800,000 from 2002, when 16.7 percent of all children were in poverty.
The Census Bureau's definition of poverty varies by the size of the household. For instance, the threshold for a family of four was $18,810, while for two people it was $12,015.
Nearly 45 million people lacked health insurance, or 15.6 percent of the population. That was up from 43.5 million in 2002, or 15.2 percent, but was a smaller increase than in the two previous years.
Uninsured rates for children, though, were relatively stable at 11.4 percent, likely the result of recent expansions of coverage in government programs covering the poor and children, such as the state Children's Health Insurance Program, analysts said.
Meanwhile, the median household income, when adjusted for inflation, remained basically flat last year at $43,318. Whites, blacks and Asians saw no noticeable change, but income fell 2.6 percent for Hispanics to nearly $33,000. Asians had the highest income at over $55,000, while whites made $47,800 and blacks nearly $30,000.

Congressman Steny Hoyer (D-MD) today released the following statement in response to the U.S. Census' annual report on poverty and annual income rates in America. The study shows that 1.3 million Americans sank into poverty last year, while median HOUSEHOLD INCOME REMAINED SATGNANT, and the number of people without health insurance coverage rose by 1.4 million to 45 million.
Would you, if you were Bush?
* Poverty is up for the third straight year on my watch.
* The Dow is down 1,000 points on my watch.
* My administration is on line to be the first since Hoover to show a net job loss.
* Almost 1,000 servicemen are dead in Iraq while Iran and North Korea work furiously to go nuclear while bin Laden is still free. Either Iraq never had WMD despite my claims or they are now in the hands of terrorists and rougue states thanks to me.
Sounds like it's time to crank up the swiftboatliars again....
dablacksox
Cynic: a blackguard whose faulty vision sees things as they are, not as they ought to be.---Ambrose Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary.
It was the third straight annual increase for both categories. While not unexpected>
Not unexpected, obviously, because as we all are painfully aware jobs were lost during the first three years of Bush's presidency, due to an inherited recession, corporate scandals and 9/11. When jobs are lost poverty and uninsured rates will naturally rise. This data is from 2003 and so does not reflect the economic recovery and job growth we've seen in 2004. My guess is next years numbers will look a whole lot better, as all economic indicators have for the entirety of 2004.
Most likely you will say that it's time to up the taxes on the wealthiest Americans to give it to the "poor". There will always be a "poor" group in a capitalist/Republic society l ike the one we live in. If that hurts your feelings and you think it's not fair, then you must be advocating socialism.
Let's go a little deeper than the article does...
'Biggest increase in poverty is blacks and children.' This leads me to think these children are probably black also. Did you know that OVER half of black mothers are raising children without fathers?
This poverty statistic can be twisted to look bad on Bush but the problem is a SOCIAL one, not economic. Very few black leaders are promoting responsibility in their communities. Look at the response last month when Bill Cosby spoke out about the moral disintegration of the black family (the NAACP was dumbstruck). This is not unexpected as the democrat party has "enslaved" them to believe in Govt. handouts. Third and Fourth generation welfare families cannot imagine NOT being dependent on the govt. Welfare reform is helping this problem but many are finding loopholes. How really has the democrat party helped blacks? Affirmative Action? Yeah, that's really doing them a world of good!
(((I was in line at the grocery store behind a black lady with three kids, a cartload of junkfood, and her handy food stamps "credit card"...I then see her in the parking lot climbing into a $30,000+ "tricked out" SUV...I'll just bet she live in the projects with all the satelite direct tv dishes. Ahh, to be poor in the United States, not too shabby!)))
You can stop right there. Your first sentence would be correct. Economically speaking, it is not uncommon for poverty to rise on the heels of a recession and since the recession began before Clinton left office. You would be correct to direct the blame back to Clinton.
Guess what...
We still would have had Clinton's recession.
We still would have been attacked on 9/11.
We still would have had the corporate scandals that were already happening on Clinton's watch... they were just exposed during Bush's term.
All in all we are coming out of it pretty well condsidering what Bush was up against. Having the greatest economic growth in the 2nd quarter of 2004 in 20 years since yes, you guessed it Ronald Reagan was president.