Show Census says Americans have slipped Into poverty Joel Havemann and Ricardo Alonso Los Angeles Times Family incomes stagnated in the United States last year and more Americans slipped into poverty the Census Bureau said Tuesday in a report that raised questions about which Americans are enjoying the fruits of an economic expansion that began in 2001 It was the fourth consecutive year that the report found an increase in the US U.S. poverty rate The report added color to recent polls showing that despite strong economic growth and low unemployment most people are sour on the state of both the national economy and their own finances The Bush administration said the Census Bureaus Bureau's annual statistical snapshot snapshot snapshot snap snap- shot of American households contained good news Kathleen B. B Cooper undersecretary undersecretary undersecretary under under- secretary of Commerce for economic affairs noted that the poverty rate was lower in 2004 than it was in all but one year of the and Officials also said that poverty rates are one of the thelast thelast thelast last statistics to improve in an economic recovery and that job gains should lift more people out of poverty soon Democrats blamed the administrations administration's policies for rising poverty and stalling Poverty Conton Page 4 P Poverty ave fj t Cont from front I income growth Wealthy Americans may be doing well in inthis inthis inthis this economy but most Americans are losing ground said Rep George Miller D D-Calif The Census Bureau report showed that median household income the level at which half of all households earn more and half earn less was in 2004 a statistically insignificant 93 less than the 2003 median when adjusted for inflation The median household income has been falling consistently consistently consistently con con- since reaching its time all-time peak of in 1999 Nearly 37 million Americans or percent lived below the official poverty line in 2004 the Census Bureau found That marked a rise of 11 million people from 2003 when the poverty rate was percent The poverty rate was last this high in 1998 The Census Bureau also report d that million Americans or percent lacked health insurance in 2004 essentially the same amount as the percent in 2003 provided Employer-provided health coverage continued to shrink but public programs such as Medicaid largely picked up the slack This is not good news Timothy M. M a professor at Syracuse University's Maxwell School which focuses on public administration said of the Census figures Were four years into a recovery and were we're not showing any progress In fact quite the opposite In their search for a cause and others looked to the jobs market Were not doing a very good job of getting people back to work who've lost good jobs particularly in manufacturing said Jared Bernstein an economist with the Economic Policy Institute a think tank backed heavily by organized labor said the share of Americans holding jobs had fallen by 2 percentage percent percent- age points since the 2001 1 recession The unemployment rate has fallen to 5 percent he said only because many Americans have quit looking for work When the job market isn't tight enough workers dont don't have leverage to bargain for their fair share of the recovery Bernstein said More conservative analysts reacted to the numbers more positively Douglas J. J Besharov an economist with the American Enterprise Institute pointed out that the poverty rate tends to drop only after the economy has been generating new jobs for a year or more and that the economy did not begin generating new jobs consistently until the middle of last year Charles Nelson the Census Bureau assistant division chief who oversees income poverty and insurance health-insurance statistics said disappointing numbers on incomes and poverty were not unusual even in the third year of an economic recovery He said the nation exp experienced ri a similar a phenomenon during the early ye years years' rs' rs of the d n as as th the economy c nomy slowly came out of the 1991 1990 recession In the early poverty rose for four years before it started turning the comer corner and declining Nelson said Well Wellsee see what happens next year As for stagnant median income Nelson said it could signify that some workers returning to the labor force after layoffs were starting over in paying lower-paying jobs When youre you're adding a lot of workers sometimes the median income goes down but that's not a bad sign he said Liberal advocates for the poor and for labor unions called that analysis wishful thinking Contrary to the impression that may have been created by Census Bureau officials this year three-year poverty trend is not typical for a recovery said Robert Greenstein president of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities If this were a recession recession recession reces reces- sion year these would be quite reasonable results But for the third year of an economic recovery they have to be branded as quite disappointing According to the Census Bureau data income gains were concentrated in the richest one-fifth one of the population The poorest one-fifth one of households registered a 01 percent 1 income gain and the middle three-fifths three lost The top one-fifth one gained 06 percent with most of that going to the richest 5 percent per per- percent C cent of the nations nation's households The economy is growing but the fruits of growth are clearly clearl clear clear- 1 l ly y not reaching middle- middle and lower-income lower families said I Bernstein the Economic Policy Institute economist |