Today the U.S. Census Bureau released data from its Current Population Survey (CPS) on poverty, household income, and health insurance coverage. Nationally, more people are living in poverty–46.2 million in 2010–than at any other time since the federal government began estimating poverty 52 years ago. The national poverty rate jumped from 14.3% in 2009 to 15.1 last year, the highest national poverty rate since 1993 and the fourth consecutive yearly increase. The child poverty rate rose from 20.7% in 2009 to 22.0% in 2010.
Wisconsin’s poverty rate remained stable in 2010. The overall poverty rate in Wisconsin in 2009-10 was 10.3%, which does not represent a statistically significant change from the 10.6% rate recorded in 2006-07. However, the picture with regard to median household income in the state is much bleaker. Wisconsin’s median household income in 2009-10 was $51,303, a statistically significant decrease of $3,608 from 2006-07. But this downward trend has been taking place since long before the recession kicked in. Median income in Wisconsin has fallen $7,119 since 1999-2000 (in 2010 dollars, adjusted for inflation). (Note: For state-level analysis of CPS data, two-year averages are used to increase reliability. Even with the two-year averaging, state-level CPS figures are considered “preliminary.”)
The Census Bureau will provide more penetrating estimates of poverty at the state and local levels on September 22, when it releases data from the American Community Survey (ACS). The ACS uses a much larger sample of the population, allowing for more reliable estimates at the state level and more localized estimates of poverty and other key indicators.
Our press release with WCCF’s analysis and reactions to the new CPS data is at https://kidsforward.org/pdf/cps_poverty_2011.pdf.
Bob Jacobson
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