A tremendous number of school children in America still live in poverty, By Emily Badger, December 17, 2014, Washington Post: “Earlier this fall, the Census Bureau reported that child poverty in America is finally declining for the first time in more than a decade. But while the national trend is ticking down, in many parts of the country — particularly the South — poverty rates for kids are still above the national average and higher than they were before the start of the recession. According to new Census data out today, poverty rates for school-aged children in 2013 were still above their 2007 levels in nearly a third of all counties, many of them clustered around metro areas in California, Arizona, Florida, Georgia and North and South Carolina…”
Tag: U.S. Census Bureau
Supplemental Poverty Measure
- Alternative poverty rate declines to 15.5% from 16%, By Neil Shah, October 16, 2014, Wall Street Journal: “Poverty in America declined in 2013 from the year before, according to an alternative measure released by the Census Bureau on Thursday that many economists consider more comprehensive than the nation’s official rate. According to this ‘supplemental’ measure, the poverty rate dropped from 16% to 15.5%. However, roughly 48.7 million people were still below the poverty line in 2013—not statistically different from 2012, Census said. The drop echoes the recent fall in the official poverty rate, reported in September. That rate dropped from 15% to 14.5%, thanks entirely to reduced poverty among Hispanics…”
- Census Bureau: California still has highest U.S. poverty rate, By Dan Walters, October 16, 2014, Sacramento Bee: “California continues to have – by far – the nation’s highest level of poverty under an alternative method devised by the Census Bureau that takes into account both broader measures of income and the cost of living. Nearly a quarter of the state’s 38 million residents (8.9 million) live in poverty, a new Census Bureau report says, a level virtually unchanged since the agency first began reporting on the method’s effects…”
- Is poverty in Mass. worse than we thought?, By Evan Horowitz, October 16, 2014, Boston Globe: “The real poverty rate in Massachusetts may be higher than we thought, according to a new and improved poverty assessment released this morning by the Census Bureau. Whereas the so-called ‘official’ rate puts state poverty at 11.5 percent, the new more comprehensive measure suggests that actually 1 of every 7 people in Massachusetts lives in poverty, or 13.8 percent…”
- Over 48 million Americans live in poverty, By Patrick Gillespie, October 16, 2014, CNN Money: “Over 48 million Americans live in poverty, according to a special report by the Census Bureau Thursday. It provides an alternative look at the worst off people in the nation than the official numbers that come out in September. Government programs such as food stamps do help some people, especially children, but even so 16% of American children are living in poverty, according to the supplemental report…”
Income and Poverty in the United States: 2013
- Poverty rate posts 1st drop since 2006 thanks to more full-time jobs, By Jim Puzzanghera and Don Lee, September 16, 2014, Los Angeles Times: “The nation’s poverty rate dropped last year for the first time since 2006, but the typical household income barely budged in a sign of the continuing sluggish economic recovery from the Great Recession, the Census Bureau said Tuesday. The decline in the poverty rate to 14.5% of the population from 15% in 2012 was driven by an increase in people with full-time jobs last year, Census officials said…”
- U.S. poverty rate declines slightly, Census Bureau reports, By Robert Pear, September 16, 2014, New York Times: “The poverty rate declined slightly last year for the first time since 2006, the Census Bureau reported on Tuesday, but there was no statistically significant change in the number of poor people or in the income level of the typical American household. Over all, the bureau said, 14.5 percent of Americans were living in poverty last year, down from 15 percent in 2012. In addition, it said, the poverty rate for children under 18 declined for the first time since 2000…”
- Poverty dropped but household incomes didn’t rise, Census Bureau says, By Carol Morello, September 16, 2014, Washington Post: “The nation’s poverty rate dipped slightly last year as more Americans shifted from part-time work to full-time jobs, but wages barely kept up with inflation so there was no significant change to incomes, according to Census Bureau statistics released Tuesday. The poverty rate in 2013 was 14.5 percent, down from 15 percent in 2012. That was the first decline in the rate since 2006, a year before the recession began. However, the number of people living at or below the poverty line, about 45 million, did not budge. The decline in the rate at a time of unchanging raw numbers was attributed to population growth…”
- U.S. poverty declines in 2013, median income stagnant, Census Bureau finds, By Tony Pugh, September 16, 2014, Miami Herald: “An improved economy with more full-time workers spurred a decline in the national poverty rate in 2013 _ the first in 7 years _ and the first decline in the nation’s child poverty rate in 13 years, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures released Tuesday. The number of men and women working full time, year round increased by 1.8 million and by 1 million, respectively, from 2012 to 2013, as America’s recession-battered workforce continued to find jobs and move from part-time to full-time work status…”
- Poverty rate drops for the first time since 2006, By Jesse J. Holland (AP), September 16, 2014, Salt Lake Tribune: “The poverty rate in the United States has dropped for the first time since 2006, bringing a bit of encouraging news about the nation’s economy as President Barack Obama and Congress gear up for midterm elections. The U.S. Census Bureau, in its annual look at poverty in the United States, said that the poverty rate in 2013 was 14.5 percent, down from 15 percent in 2012. The decrease in the poverty rate was attributed to the growth in year-round employment by 2.8 million jobs in the United States, government officials said…”
- U.S. poverty rate drops for first time since 2006, By Tami Luhby, September 16, 2014, CNNMoney: “There’s not much good news for working Americans struggling to rebound from the recession, except perhaps this: the U.S. poverty rate is finally on the decline. The nation’s poverty rate fell to 14.5% in 2013, down from 15% a year earlier, the U.S. Census Bureau reported Tuesday. This is the first statistically significant drop in poverty since 2006, when it was 12.3%. A lot of the decrease is coming from people starting to find full-time work — and thus earning more money. But the number of people in poverty remains stuck at 45.3 million. As America’s population expands, the job growth hasn’t kept pace…”