Perilous Times
U.S. poverty rate hits 15-year high
Reuters - Friday, September 17
By Donna Smith
WASHINGTON - The U.S. poverty rate rose to 14.3 percent in 2009 from
13.2 percent the year before, bringing the percentage of the population
living in poverty to the highest level since 1994, as the economic
downturn took its toll on jobs, the U.S. government said on Thursday.
The U.S. Census Bureau said 43.6 million people, or one in seven
Americans, lived in poverty last year, up from 39.8 million in 2008.
The data paints a picture of rising hardship and declining incomes for
many living in the United States and hands more bad economic news to
Democrats ahead of November 2 congressional elections.
"Our economy plunged into recession almost three years ago on the heels
of a financial meltdown and a rapid decline in housing prices,"
President Barack Obama said in a statement.
"Last year we saw the depths of the recession, including historic
losses in employment not witnessed since the Great Depression," Obama
said. His economic recovery package enacted last year, he said, had
helped keep millions from falling into poverty in 2009.
The poverty threshold for a family of four in 2009 was $21,954, the
report said. The Census report relies on cash income and government
payments, including unemployment insurance, to measure poverty.
But the data omits other government assistance, such as food stamps and
low-income tax credits, that were increased in last year's economic
package.
Republicans pounced on the report, saying it showed that the government
aid enacted by Obama and his congressional Democrats was not working.
"What poor Americans, like all other Americans, need are jobs, not more
government benefits," said Republican Representative John Linder.
The worst recession in decades began in December 2007 while Republican
George W. Bush was president and the recovery has been slow to take
hold.
DECLINING HEALTH COVERAGE
While poverty levels rose, the number of people without health
insurance jumped to 50.7 million in 2009 from 46.3 million a year
earlier, leaving 16.7 percent of the population without health
coverage, the Census Bureau said in its annual report on income,
poverty and health coverage.
The data show that the impact of the economic downturn hit people at
lower income levels the hardest, and many more would have fallen into
poverty but for the additional unemployment payments approved by
Congress, Census spokesman Stanley Rolark told reporters.
The annual measure of how well Americans are living is important
because lawmakers and analysts use it to assess the overall health of
the U.S. economy as well as the effectiveness of government programs.
The poverty rate in 2009 was the highest since 1994, but was 8.1
percentage points lower than the poverty rate in 1959, the first year
for which poverty estimates are available, the Census Bureau said.
Median income declined between 2008 and 2009 for non-Hispanic white and
black households in the United States, while Asian households had the
highest median income in 2009. Median income for Hispanic-origin
households was about the same in 2009 as in 2008, the report said.
The number of working men fell since 2007 by 2.5 million, while the
number of working women fell by 1.3 million, the report said.
"No other set of income years surrounding the recessions dating from
1969 to the present has experienced such a large decline in the number
of workers," the report said.
At the same time, earnings of working men fell by 4.1 percent, and
earnings of working women fell by 2.8 percent. The data reflect a
decline in the number of people working full-time, year-round jobs.
The number of people with health insurance fell for the first time in
2009 since the Census Bureau began collecting the data in 1987.
"The economic downturn exacerbated the steady erosion over the past
decade in the number of people with employer-provided health coverage
-- erosion caused by the unaffordable costs of health care for
America's businesses," said Ron Pollack, of Families USA, a healthcare
advocacy group.
The number of people covered by private health insurance fell from 2008
to 2009, while the number with government health insurance rose, the
report said.
Some 194.5 million people in 2009 have private health coverage,
compared to 201 million in 2008. The number of people covered by
government plans rose to 93.2 million in 2009, from 87.4 million in
2008.
The newly enacted healthcare overhaul will require most people to
obtain health insurance by 2014, and the government will offer
subsidies to help them afford it.