Today’s grim Census Bureau report shows the nation lost substantial ground in 2008 on poverty, median income, and the number of people who are uninsured. Several aspects of the Census report stand out.
The number of people living in poverty jumped by 2.6 million to 39.8 million — the highest since 1960. The poverty rate — the percentage of people living in poverty — also rose, to 13.2 percent, which is its highest level since 1997. Similarly, real median household income fell by $1,860 to $50,303, its lowest level since 1997.
These figures are particularly grim because they come after the disappointing record of the 2001-2007 expansion. Poverty was actually higher — and median income for working-age households lower — at the end of that expansion than during the 2001 recession. Such a dismal record during an expansion has never occurred before, since the nation began collecting these data.
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