2010 Poverty Numbers

As you may have heard through various media outlets, the US Census Bureau released its 2010 report on income, poverty and healthcare coverage in the United States. The numbers are humbling and present a disturbing trend in the American quality of life. More and more families find themselves in poverty, incomes have dropped, and a lack of healthcare coverage continues to challenge the economic stability of millions of households. A summary of the report’s key findings is provided below:

Poverty

• The national poverty rate rose to 15.1% from the 2009 rate of 14.3%. This increase means 2.6 million more persons were in poverty and it's the fourth consecutive year with an increase;
• Not only are more people living in poverty, but more families are living in poverty (11.7%). This suggests that the impact of the economic crisis is spreading;
• While the poverty rate increased for both married-couple families and female-headed households with no husband present, the differences between these two groups remains significant: 6.2% poverty rate for married-couple families v. 31.6% for female-headed households.

Income

• The national median household income declined by 2.3% to $49,445;
• While no significant change in income inequality was observed across all households, the continued separation of economic classes (e.g. upper class v. middle class v. lower class) grew;
• The economic crisis impacted millions of wage earners of both genders, however since 2007 men working fulltime have experienced an earnings decrease by a sharper rate compared to women (2.35 to 1);
• Among race groups, real median income decreased for white and black households, while significant changes in Asian of Hispanic households was not observed.

Healthcare Coverage

• 900,000 fewer people had healthcare coverage in 2010 compared to 2009;
• Fewer people have healthcare coverage from private employers and more have coverage through governmental programs (e.g. Medicaid and Medicare);
• The uninsured rate for children overall was 9.8%, but it was higher for child living in poverty (15.4%).

At the same time, analysts note the beneficial impact of certain initiatives on minimizing the poverty rate. In an article last week on CNN Money, the following points were made,

• The Federal Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) kept an additional 5.4 million people from being included in these numbers;
• The unobserved effect of food stamp benefits in this data would raise an additional 3.9 million people above the poverty line;
• 570,000 more children were insured because of a shift to government healthcare programs after their parents lost employer coverage;
• The article also notes that the reduction in funding by some states (including Wisconsin) for state EITC programs will reduce the safety net for families in need.

To the average citizen, these numbers are daunting. A 15.1% poverty rate means that almost everyone is touched by poverty either directly or through family members, friends, neighbors, co-workers, church members, etc. Worse, the numbers continue to grow as more families fall out of the middle class and into a life of poverty. What do these trends mean for Milwaukee? More to come this week when the Census releases its local numbers. Stay tuned...

Dave Celata

Intergovernmental Affairs & Research Manager

A cautionary note needs to be made here regarding these rankings.  The poverty numbers in 2009 and 2010 come from the American Community Survey, which uses a sampling method to obtain information from households in a given geography.  Thus, the numbers are not absolute; they have a varying margin of error.  This margin of error partially, but not completely, accounts for the fluctuations in rankings.  The rankings are presented here because of their prominence in public discussion as shown here through their publication in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.   

What can be done to blunt this trend?  In 2010, the SDC developed a Community Action Plan for 2011-2013 and the SDC is committed to implementing the strategies outlined in this report.  Additionally, the SDC will be hosting its 5th Annual Symposium on Poverty on November 9th.  This year’s symposium will focus on developing new poverty-reduction strategies in the face of decreasing governmental support.  We hope that this event will coalesce the community and foster innovative dialogue on how to arrest the continuing income and poverty trends described above.

Steve Schultz

Policy Analyst