Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2008

[Robbien]

Source: U.S. Census News Release

The U.S. Census Bureau announced today that real median household income in the United States fell 3.6 percent between 2007 and 2008, from $52,163 to $50,303. This breaks a string of three years of annual income increases and coincides with the recession that started in December 2007.

The nation’s official poverty rate in 2008 was 13.2 percent, up from 12.5 percent in 2007. There were 39.8 million people in poverty in 2008, up from 37.3 million in 2007.

Meanwhile, the number of people without health insurance coverage rose from 45.7 million in 2007 to 46.3 million in 2008, while the percentage remained unchanged at 15.4 percent.

Read more: http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/income_wealth/014227.html

[Purveyor]

1. Poverty Rate Rose in U.S. as Median Household Income Fell, Census Reports

Source: Bloomberg

By Timothy R. Homan

Sept. 10 (Bloomberg) -- Household incomes decreased in 2008, the first full year of the recession, and the poverty rate rose to the highest since 1997, a government report showed.

The median household income fell 3.6 percent to $50,303, snapping three years of increases, the Census Bureau said today in its annual report on incomes, poverty and health insurance. The poverty rate climbed to 13.2 percent from 12.5 percent. The number of people living in poverty rose to 39.8 million last year, an increase of 2.6 million from 2007.

The decline in incomes underscores concerns that consumer spending will play a limited role in leading any recovery from the worst recession since the 1930s. Plunging home values and stock prices have fueled a record $13.9 trillion loss in household wealth in the U.S. since the middle of 2007.

Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aTRD0zaW3jFg

[xchrom]

2. sigh

how the Mighty have fallen.

this is almost biblical in it's proportion.

and the real backstory is that this decline has really been going on for a very long time.

[Soylent Brice]

3. K&R