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The latest US Census Bureau numbers on poverty, income inequality, and healthcare, coupled with newly released economic analysis of US public policy reveals the reality and the reasons behind the persistent rut of the poverty-stricken, the working-poor, and the middle class in America.
More than three years after the collapse of the housing bubble, the federal government's bailout of Wall Street, and the start of the Great Recession, the US poverty rate remains persistently high with nearly 1 in 5 Americans living at or below the poverty line, according to new figures released on Wednesday by the US Census Bureau
In addition, the numbers show rampant joblessness, stagnant or falling wages among workers, household incomes that continue to fall, and an inequality gap that continues to grow.
Meanwhile, the Economic Policy Institute released their annual review of US economic policy which includes a wide variety of data on family incomes, wages, jobs, unemployment, wealth, and poverty that allow for a clear, unbiased understanding of the economy's effect on the living standards of working Americans.
As the Census reports, "the nation's official poverty rate in 2011 was 15.0 percent, with 46.2 million people in poverty. After three consecutive years of increases, neither the poverty rate nor the number of people in poverty were statistically different from the 2010 estimates."
New data on the continued rise in inequality--where income inequality increased by 1.6 percent between 2010 and 2011--prompted Robert Greenstein, President of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, to underscore that the nation's wealthiest should begin to share in the sacrifices that will be needed to correct the economy in the coming years.
"Given the need for substantial sacrifice and the skewing of income gains to those at the top," he said in a statement, "it is difficult to justify extending the rather lavish tax cuts for high-income individuals that policymakers enacted in 2001 and 2003, which average $129,000 a year for people who make over $1 million a year, according to the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center."
The Economic Policy Institute, which on Tuesday released its 12th annual "State of Working America" report, listed the key numbers from the Census report:
Poverty
- 15.0%: The share of the population in poverty in 2011
- 21.9%: The percent of children under 18 in poverty
- 46.2 million: The number of people in poverty in 2011
- $22,811: The poverty threshold for a family of four with two children
- 44.0%: The share of the poor population in "deep poverty," or below half the poverty line
- 2.3 million: The number of people unemployment insurance kept out of poverty in 2011
- 21.4 million: The number of people Social Security kept out of poverty in 2011
- 5.7 million: How many fewer people would be in poverty if the Federal Earned Income Tax Credit was included in the Census definition of money income
- 3.9 million: How many fewer people would be in poverty if food stamps (SNAP) were added to money income
Income
- -1.7%, +5.1%: The change in average household income between 2010 and 2011 for the middle 20 percent, and the top 5 percent, respectively. The disparity means income inequality increased in 2011.
- $7,887, -12.4%: The decline in median working-age household income from 2000 to 2011 in level terms and percentage terms, respectively
- $6,518, -16.8%: The decline in median African-American household income from 2000 to 2011 in level terms and percentage terms, respectively
- $4,695, -10.8%: The decline in median Hispanic household income from 2000 to 2011 in level terms and percentage terms, respectively
- $50,622, $48,202: Median earnings for a man working fulltime, full year in 1973 and 2011, respectively
- $28,699, $37,118: Median earnings for a female working fulltime, full year in 1973 and 2011, respectively
Putting the Census numbers in the context of public policy in their new report, EPI explains how economic policies, including policymakers' actions and failures to act, have continuously undercut the ability of workers to benefit from economic growth in the United States. Its primary findings include:
"The State of Working America, 12th Edition" includes new and compelling data on:
Income
- the components of the Congressional Budget Office's "comprehensive income" growth for the middle class (health care insurance, wages, pensions, work hours, government benefits)
- the growth of capital income by income group and the growing concentration of capital incomes
Mobility
- the stagnation of economic mobility
- the poor performance of the U.S. economy in international rankings of mobility
Wages
- flat or falling wages for college graduates in almost every occupation over the past 10 years
- wage trends by education, decile, gender, and race/ethnicity
- the growth of wage inequality for the three key wage gaps: between the top one percent and others, between the top and middle (95/50 wage gap), and between the middle and bottom (50/10 wage gap)
- the impact of rising health care costs on wage growth and wage inequality
- the factors driving the gap between productivity and median hourly compensation growth
- the role of the financial sector and CEO compensation in fueling the top one percent's income growth
Jobs
- the extent to which changes in the labor force participation rate are due to the weak economy or are structural/demographic
- why current unemployment is cyclical and not structural
Wealth
- the decline of median wealth between 1983 and 2010 (while wealth at the top grew strongly)
- the collapse of wealth in African American and Hispanic households
- the role of housing equity's collapse on middle class wealth
- the increasing concentration of stock ownership
Poverty
- the factors driving high poverty and low-end wages
- the large role income inequality plays in growing poverty (as opposed to demographic factors like family formation)
- the contribution of longer work hours to low-income families' income
- the relatively small role tax and transfer policy plays in reducing poverty in the U.S. in comparison to peer countries
- high child poverty rates in comparison to peer countries
# # #
Trump and Musk are on an unconstitutional rampage, aiming for virtually every corner of the federal government. These two right-wing billionaires are targeting nurses, scientists, teachers, daycare providers, judges, veterans, air traffic controllers, and nuclear safety inspectors. No one is safe. The food stamps program, Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid are next. It’s an unprecedented disaster and a five-alarm fire, but there will be a reckoning. The people did not vote for this. The American people do not want this dystopian hellscape that hides behind claims of “efficiency.” Still, in reality, it is all a giveaway to corporate interests and the libertarian dreams of far-right oligarchs like Musk. Common Dreams is playing a vital role by reporting day and night on this orgy of corruption and greed, as well as what everyday people can do to organize and fight back. As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover issues the corporate media never will, but we can only continue with our readers’ support. |
The latest US Census Bureau numbers on poverty, income inequality, and healthcare, coupled with newly released economic analysis of US public policy reveals the reality and the reasons behind the persistent rut of the poverty-stricken, the working-poor, and the middle class in America.
More than three years after the collapse of the housing bubble, the federal government's bailout of Wall Street, and the start of the Great Recession, the US poverty rate remains persistently high with nearly 1 in 5 Americans living at or below the poverty line, according to new figures released on Wednesday by the US Census Bureau
In addition, the numbers show rampant joblessness, stagnant or falling wages among workers, household incomes that continue to fall, and an inequality gap that continues to grow.
Meanwhile, the Economic Policy Institute released their annual review of US economic policy which includes a wide variety of data on family incomes, wages, jobs, unemployment, wealth, and poverty that allow for a clear, unbiased understanding of the economy's effect on the living standards of working Americans.
As the Census reports, "the nation's official poverty rate in 2011 was 15.0 percent, with 46.2 million people in poverty. After three consecutive years of increases, neither the poverty rate nor the number of people in poverty were statistically different from the 2010 estimates."
New data on the continued rise in inequality--where income inequality increased by 1.6 percent between 2010 and 2011--prompted Robert Greenstein, President of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, to underscore that the nation's wealthiest should begin to share in the sacrifices that will be needed to correct the economy in the coming years.
"Given the need for substantial sacrifice and the skewing of income gains to those at the top," he said in a statement, "it is difficult to justify extending the rather lavish tax cuts for high-income individuals that policymakers enacted in 2001 and 2003, which average $129,000 a year for people who make over $1 million a year, according to the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center."
The Economic Policy Institute, which on Tuesday released its 12th annual "State of Working America" report, listed the key numbers from the Census report:
Poverty
- 15.0%: The share of the population in poverty in 2011
- 21.9%: The percent of children under 18 in poverty
- 46.2 million: The number of people in poverty in 2011
- $22,811: The poverty threshold for a family of four with two children
- 44.0%: The share of the poor population in "deep poverty," or below half the poverty line
- 2.3 million: The number of people unemployment insurance kept out of poverty in 2011
- 21.4 million: The number of people Social Security kept out of poverty in 2011
- 5.7 million: How many fewer people would be in poverty if the Federal Earned Income Tax Credit was included in the Census definition of money income
- 3.9 million: How many fewer people would be in poverty if food stamps (SNAP) were added to money income
Income
- -1.7%, +5.1%: The change in average household income between 2010 and 2011 for the middle 20 percent, and the top 5 percent, respectively. The disparity means income inequality increased in 2011.
- $7,887, -12.4%: The decline in median working-age household income from 2000 to 2011 in level terms and percentage terms, respectively
- $6,518, -16.8%: The decline in median African-American household income from 2000 to 2011 in level terms and percentage terms, respectively
- $4,695, -10.8%: The decline in median Hispanic household income from 2000 to 2011 in level terms and percentage terms, respectively
- $50,622, $48,202: Median earnings for a man working fulltime, full year in 1973 and 2011, respectively
- $28,699, $37,118: Median earnings for a female working fulltime, full year in 1973 and 2011, respectively
Putting the Census numbers in the context of public policy in their new report, EPI explains how economic policies, including policymakers' actions and failures to act, have continuously undercut the ability of workers to benefit from economic growth in the United States. Its primary findings include:
"The State of Working America, 12th Edition" includes new and compelling data on:
Income
- the components of the Congressional Budget Office's "comprehensive income" growth for the middle class (health care insurance, wages, pensions, work hours, government benefits)
- the growth of capital income by income group and the growing concentration of capital incomes
Mobility
- the stagnation of economic mobility
- the poor performance of the U.S. economy in international rankings of mobility
Wages
- flat or falling wages for college graduates in almost every occupation over the past 10 years
- wage trends by education, decile, gender, and race/ethnicity
- the growth of wage inequality for the three key wage gaps: between the top one percent and others, between the top and middle (95/50 wage gap), and between the middle and bottom (50/10 wage gap)
- the impact of rising health care costs on wage growth and wage inequality
- the factors driving the gap between productivity and median hourly compensation growth
- the role of the financial sector and CEO compensation in fueling the top one percent's income growth
Jobs
- the extent to which changes in the labor force participation rate are due to the weak economy or are structural/demographic
- why current unemployment is cyclical and not structural
Wealth
- the decline of median wealth between 1983 and 2010 (while wealth at the top grew strongly)
- the collapse of wealth in African American and Hispanic households
- the role of housing equity's collapse on middle class wealth
- the increasing concentration of stock ownership
Poverty
- the factors driving high poverty and low-end wages
- the large role income inequality plays in growing poverty (as opposed to demographic factors like family formation)
- the contribution of longer work hours to low-income families' income
- the relatively small role tax and transfer policy plays in reducing poverty in the U.S. in comparison to peer countries
- high child poverty rates in comparison to peer countries
# # #
The latest US Census Bureau numbers on poverty, income inequality, and healthcare, coupled with newly released economic analysis of US public policy reveals the reality and the reasons behind the persistent rut of the poverty-stricken, the working-poor, and the middle class in America.
More than three years after the collapse of the housing bubble, the federal government's bailout of Wall Street, and the start of the Great Recession, the US poverty rate remains persistently high with nearly 1 in 5 Americans living at or below the poverty line, according to new figures released on Wednesday by the US Census Bureau
In addition, the numbers show rampant joblessness, stagnant or falling wages among workers, household incomes that continue to fall, and an inequality gap that continues to grow.
Meanwhile, the Economic Policy Institute released their annual review of US economic policy which includes a wide variety of data on family incomes, wages, jobs, unemployment, wealth, and poverty that allow for a clear, unbiased understanding of the economy's effect on the living standards of working Americans.
As the Census reports, "the nation's official poverty rate in 2011 was 15.0 percent, with 46.2 million people in poverty. After three consecutive years of increases, neither the poverty rate nor the number of people in poverty were statistically different from the 2010 estimates."
New data on the continued rise in inequality--where income inequality increased by 1.6 percent between 2010 and 2011--prompted Robert Greenstein, President of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, to underscore that the nation's wealthiest should begin to share in the sacrifices that will be needed to correct the economy in the coming years.
"Given the need for substantial sacrifice and the skewing of income gains to those at the top," he said in a statement, "it is difficult to justify extending the rather lavish tax cuts for high-income individuals that policymakers enacted in 2001 and 2003, which average $129,000 a year for people who make over $1 million a year, according to the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center."
The Economic Policy Institute, which on Tuesday released its 12th annual "State of Working America" report, listed the key numbers from the Census report:
Poverty
- 15.0%: The share of the population in poverty in 2011
- 21.9%: The percent of children under 18 in poverty
- 46.2 million: The number of people in poverty in 2011
- $22,811: The poverty threshold for a family of four with two children
- 44.0%: The share of the poor population in "deep poverty," or below half the poverty line
- 2.3 million: The number of people unemployment insurance kept out of poverty in 2011
- 21.4 million: The number of people Social Security kept out of poverty in 2011
- 5.7 million: How many fewer people would be in poverty if the Federal Earned Income Tax Credit was included in the Census definition of money income
- 3.9 million: How many fewer people would be in poverty if food stamps (SNAP) were added to money income
Income
- -1.7%, +5.1%: The change in average household income between 2010 and 2011 for the middle 20 percent, and the top 5 percent, respectively. The disparity means income inequality increased in 2011.
- $7,887, -12.4%: The decline in median working-age household income from 2000 to 2011 in level terms and percentage terms, respectively
- $6,518, -16.8%: The decline in median African-American household income from 2000 to 2011 in level terms and percentage terms, respectively
- $4,695, -10.8%: The decline in median Hispanic household income from 2000 to 2011 in level terms and percentage terms, respectively
- $50,622, $48,202: Median earnings for a man working fulltime, full year in 1973 and 2011, respectively
- $28,699, $37,118: Median earnings for a female working fulltime, full year in 1973 and 2011, respectively
Putting the Census numbers in the context of public policy in their new report, EPI explains how economic policies, including policymakers' actions and failures to act, have continuously undercut the ability of workers to benefit from economic growth in the United States. Its primary findings include:
"The State of Working America, 12th Edition" includes new and compelling data on:
Income
- the components of the Congressional Budget Office's "comprehensive income" growth for the middle class (health care insurance, wages, pensions, work hours, government benefits)
- the growth of capital income by income group and the growing concentration of capital incomes
Mobility
- the stagnation of economic mobility
- the poor performance of the U.S. economy in international rankings of mobility
Wages
- flat or falling wages for college graduates in almost every occupation over the past 10 years
- wage trends by education, decile, gender, and race/ethnicity
- the growth of wage inequality for the three key wage gaps: between the top one percent and others, between the top and middle (95/50 wage gap), and between the middle and bottom (50/10 wage gap)
- the impact of rising health care costs on wage growth and wage inequality
- the factors driving the gap between productivity and median hourly compensation growth
- the role of the financial sector and CEO compensation in fueling the top one percent's income growth
Jobs
- the extent to which changes in the labor force participation rate are due to the weak economy or are structural/demographic
- why current unemployment is cyclical and not structural
Wealth
- the decline of median wealth between 1983 and 2010 (while wealth at the top grew strongly)
- the collapse of wealth in African American and Hispanic households
- the role of housing equity's collapse on middle class wealth
- the increasing concentration of stock ownership
Poverty
- the factors driving high poverty and low-end wages
- the large role income inequality plays in growing poverty (as opposed to demographic factors like family formation)
- the contribution of longer work hours to low-income families' income
- the relatively small role tax and transfer policy plays in reducing poverty in the U.S. in comparison to peer countries
- high child poverty rates in comparison to peer countries
# # #