American Families are Losing Ground on Bush's Watch; Income Down, Poverty Up Since 2000
The U.S. Census Bureau released its 2006 report on income, poverty and health insurance coverage in the
Poverty
Each year, the Census Bureau releases new estimates on the number and percent of Americans living in poverty. Under the Bush administration, the number of Americans living in poverty has increased by 4.9 million people. Today, nearly one out of every eight Americans is living below the federal poverty line.
Income
New estimates by the Census Bureau show that real (inflation-adjusted) median household income increased slightly between 2005 and 2006. From 2000 to 2006, however, real median household income fell by 2.0 percent, with the poorest households experiencing disproportionately large declines even as the richest households saw their incomes rise. Those data confirm that the vast majority of Americans have not benefited from economic growth over the past six years.
Health Insurance
Both the number of Americans without health insurance coverage and the uninsured as a percentage of the population rose in 2006, according to the latest estimates by the Census Bureau. The number of people without health insurance is the largest on record and has increased in every year since President Bush took office.
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