Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA), Chairman of the U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee (JEC), made the following statement today, and the JEC released fact sheets on the U.S. Census Bureau’s annual report on income, poverty, and health insurance coverage in 2010.

“Today’s alarming poverty statistics give us further insights into the impacts of the Great Recession on American families.  The number of people living in poverty increased for the fourth straight year, reaching a record 46.2 million.  The poverty rate of 15.1 percent is unacceptably high. The poverty rate increased for children - from 20.7 percent in 2009 to 22.0 percent in 2010 and more than one in four children under the age of six live in poverty. In Pennsylvania, an average of 11.4 percent of our population lived in poverty between 2008 and 2010.

“The data underscore the need for Congress to continue its support of programs that provide essential aid to families during tough economic times. This is why I will be reintroducing the National Opportunity and Community Renewal Act (NOCRA), which is designed to transform the existing framework surrounding our nation’s safety net to help lift more families out of poverty.

“Low income makes it difficult for our families to pay for basic services, such as housing, child care, and education. We cannot sit by and wait to help families get back on their feet.”

Click here to see the JEC's Healthcare Coverage Fact Sheet.

Click here to see the JEC's Poverty/Income Fact Sheet.

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