New Census Bureau Report on 2004 Income and Poverty
Today the U.S. Census released its annual report on income, poverty, and health insurance coverage in the United States. The number of Americans living in poverty increased to 37.0 million, or 12.7% of the population in 2004, compared to 35.9 million (12.5%) in 2003. Median household income was unchanged.
This is the fourth year in a row that poverty has increased.
The poverty rate among seniors decreased from 10.2% in 2003 to 9.8% in 2004, while it increased for children (from 17.6% to 17.8%) and adults age 18-64 (from 10.8% to 11.3%).
Although the economy has grown in recent years, poverty has increased. The data show low-income people getting a shrinking share of a modestly growing pie. The share of income going to Americans in the lowest quintile of the income distribution went from 3.6% in 1999 to 3.4% in 2004. At the same time, the share of income going to those in the highest quintile went from 49.4% to 50.1%.
This CPS income and poverty data release each year does not include the food insecurity data, which usually come out in October. However, the food security numbers went up each year in 2001, 2002, and 2003, just as the poverty numbers did, and now the Census Bureau has reported that the poverty rate increased again in 2004.
These data show how hard the struggle of low-income people has become. Proposals in Congress to cut food stamp spending over the next five years would only exacerbate the worsening situation faced by millions of low-income people.
For more information:- U.S. Census release, "Income Stable, Poverty Rate Increases, Percentage of Americans Without Health Insurance Unchanged"
- Center on Budget and Policy Priorities’ release, "Economic Recovery Failed to Benefit Much of the Population in 2004"
- Coalition on Human Needs’ release, "More People In Poverty, More Uninsured, In 2004
- Legal Momentum's report, "Reading Between the Lines: Women's Poverty in the United States, 2004"
