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Poverty swells { September 24 2002 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/24/national/24CND-POVE.htmlhttp://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/24/national/24CND-POVE.html
September 24, 2002
Recession Cut Incomes and Swelled Poverty Rolls, U.S. Says
By ROBERT PEAR
WASHINGTON, Sept. 24 - The number of poor people in the United States rose last year to 32.9 million, an increase of 1.3 million that pushed up the proportion of Americans living in poverty for the first time in eight years, to 11.7 percent, the Census Bureau reported today.
At the same time, it said, the most widely used measure of personal income - median household income - declined 2.2 percent, to $42,228, after adjusting for inflation. It was the first decline in household income since 1991, the year in which the last recession ended.
Daniel H. Weinberg, chief of income and poverty statistics at the Census Bureau, said the recession that began in March 2001 had reduced the earnings of millions of Americans.
``The decline was widespread,'' Mr. Weinberg said. All racial groups and all regions except the Northeast experienced a decline in household income, he reported. For blacks, it was the first significant decline in income in two decades.
The recession showed an unusual pattern, seeming to hit whites harder than minority groups.
Increases in poverty last year were concentrated in the suburbs, in the South and among non-Hispanic whites, the Census Bureau said. Indeed, non-Hispanic whites were the only racial group for whom the poverty rate showed a significant increase, to 7.8 percent in 2001 from 7.4 percent in 2000.
Although the poverty rates for minorities have traditionally been considerably higher, the bureau said that they remained at historic lows for blacks (22.7 percent), Hispanic people (21.4 percent) and Asian Americans (10.2 percent).
With its usual caution, the Census Bureau said the data did not conclusively show a year-to-year increase in income inequality, but it confirmed a trend in that direction over the last 15 years.
The most affluent fifth of the population received half of all household income last year, up from 45 percent in 1985. The top 5 percent of households appeared to be the only group for whom income rose last year, although the increase was small.
Median earnings for women increased 3.5 percent last year, but did not change for men, so women scored a gain relative to men.
``The real median earnings of women age 15 and older who worked full time year-round increased for the fifth consecutive year, rising to $29,215 - a 3.5 percent increase between 2000 and 2001,'' Mr. Weinberg said. The comparable figure for men was unchanged at $38,275. So the female-to-male earnings ratio reached a record high of 0.76. The previous high was 0.74, first recorded in 1996.
Reactions to the new data followed predictable political lines. President Bush said he remained upbeat about the economy in general. ``When you combine the productivity of the American people with low interest rates and low inflation, those are the ingredients for growth,'' he said. His welfare director, Wade Horn, noted that the number of poor children was much lower than in 1996, when Congress overhauled the federal welfare law to impose stricter work requirements.
Democrats said the data supported their contention that Congress should increase spending on social welfare programs. The weak economy led to lower incomes for the middle class, more poverty and greater income inequality, they said.
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