Census notes increase for third consecutive year
The poverty levels in America increased for the third year in a row in 2003, according to census data released on August 26, and children seem to be the hardest hit. The number and percentage of people without health insurance also climbed for the third straight year, leaving 45 million Americans uninsured in 2003 — the largest number on record, with the data going back to 1987, noted the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
Since 2000 — the last year before unemployment began to rise — the number of people in poverty has risen by 4.3 million, median income has fallen by $1,535, after adjustment for inflation, and the number of people with no health insurance has increased by 5.2 million, reported the Center.
The poor also kept getting poorer. People struggling with extreme poverty jumped to 15.3 million people, an increase of 1.2 million. Extreme poverty is defined as having an income below half of the poverty line. Some 43 percent of all poor people had incomes this low, noted the Center, as the percentage of poor people living in extreme poverty reached the highest level on record, with data available back to 1975.
Despite claims by some that the census numbers are so old that they have become irrelevant, the Center released an analysis which indicates that 2004 is shaping up to be a mixed bag of economic upturns and downswings.
"While it is difficult at this point to predict outcomes for 2004 with any certainty, this analysis finds that health insurance coverage is likely continuing to erode this year. Predictions about trends in poverty and median income in 2004 are more difficult to make. The relevant indicators here are mixed. Economic growth has been stronger in 2004 than in 2003, the unemployment rate has fallen, and there has been modest job creation," stated the Center. "On the other hand, the share of the population holding jobs has not improved, and average weekly wages have dropped slightly, with the wage declines being greatest among low-paid workers. In addition, the safety net for the unemployed has weakened with the termination of the temporary federal unemployment benefits program at the end of 2003."
