Income, uninsured rise while poverty declines, Census says

Houston Business Journal: Income, uninsured rise while poverty declines, Census says

The U.S. Census Bureau on Tuesday reported a rise in household income, a decline in the nation's poverty rate and a higher number of people without health insurance.

The real median household income increased between 2005 and 2006 for the second consecutive year to $48,200.

.......

Meanwhile, the poverty rate declined for the first time this decade, to 12.3 percent in 2006 from 12.6 percent in 2005. Statistics showed there were 36.5 million people in poverty in 2006, not statistically different from 2005.

The bureau said about 9.8 percent, or 7.7 million, of the nation's families were in poverty in 2006. Married-couple families had a poverty rate of 4.9 percent (2.9 million), compared with 28.3 percent (4.1 million) for female-householder, no-husband-present families and 13.2 percent (671,000) for those with a male householder and no wife present.

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Meanwhile, the number of people without health insurance coverage rose to 47 million, or 15.8 percent of the population, in 2006, from 44.8 million, or 15.3 percent, in 2005.

Comments

[Alan]

The early 80's I was Associate Pastor in Abilene Texas and the problem of "under insured" was a real crisis. First Central did a wonderful thing by starting a clinic to meet those needs.

It is a huge blessing to that community some 25+ years later.

Alan