1.1 million Americans joined ranks of the poor in 2004
largemarge
By Richard Wolf, USA TODAY
Tue Aug 30, 5:46 PM
The number of Americans living in poverty rose by 1.1 million to 37
million
last year, despite a robust economy that created 2.2 million new jobs.
It
was the fourth consecutive year poverty has risen.
Median household income remained stable at $44,389. But it took more
workers
to produce that income; median earnings for both men and women did not
keep
up with inflation. (Related stories: USA better educated |Findings on
living
costs, commutes)
The 2004 data, reported by the Census Bureau on Tuesday, showed an
economy
still recovering from the 2001 recession. Unemployment peaked in 2003
at
6.3%, but the poverty rate kept climbing in 2004, to 12.7%. The
increase was
felt most by whites, people ages 18 to 64, and residents of the
Midwest,
where manufacturing lags the overall economy.
The four-year increase in poverty under President Bush is the worst
since
his father was in office. The poverty rate rose for five years from
1989 to
1993, as it had from 1979 to 1983.
"It's almost a good news-bad news situation," said E.R. Anderson, chief
of
staff in the economic directorate at the Commerce Department. "The good
news
is more people are joining the workforce."
Inequality between rich and poor remained basically unchanged last
year. But
for the first time, the wealthiest 20% of Americans accounted for more
than
half of all household income, up from 49.8% in 2003. And much of their
income, such as capital gains, is not measured by the survey.
"It's a pretty classic story of an economy that's leaving middle-income
households behind," said Jared Bernstein of the liberal Economic Policy
Institute. "The gap between how this economy's doing and the living
standards of the median family has never been larger."
The number of people without health insurance rose by 800,000 to 45.8
million. But the number with health insurance also increased by 2
million,
to 245.3 million. Employer-based health coverage declined, while more
people
joined government programs such as Medicaid. As a result, the
percentage of
uninsured remained basically unchanged at 15.7%.
Democrats and liberals said the report was troubling; many had expected
it
to be more upbeat. John Edwards, who ran for vice president in 2004 and
now
heads the Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity at the University of
North
Carolina, called the poverty statistics "appalling."
The Bush administration has cited a rash of other statistics: 26
consecutive
months of job growth, a jobless rate down to 5%, a strong stock market,
higher corporate profits, surging productivity and rising rates of home
ownership. But in recent months, both Federal Reserve Board Chairman
Alan
Greenspan and Treasury Secretary John Snow have warned that the
benefits are
not being shared by all.
"We don't want to forget the people at the bottom," said Douglas
Besharov of
the conservative American Enterprise Institute. But "the rest of the
economy
is quite good."
Among other highlights:
??? Poverty. Nearly one in four blacks and more than one in five
Hispanics
remained in poverty, defined as annual income of less than $19,307 for
a
family of four. The rate for Asians dropped by 2 percentage points, to
fewer
than one in 10. The poverty rate for children was 17.8%, up slightly
from
17.6% in 2003.
??? Income. Men's earnings lost pace with inflation faster than
women's. The
$40,798 median earnings for a full-time male worker were lower in
inflation-adjusted dollars than in 1973. Women's median earnings were
$31,223 ??? 77% what men earned, up from 76% the year before and equal
to
the 2002 high.
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