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NEWS ABOUT: poverty rate

Nearly Half of Americans Are Poor, Low-Income

New metric includes living costs

(Newser) - Nearly 1 in 2 Americans are living either below the poverty level or within a stone's throw of it, according to a new Census metric designed to give a more complete view of poverty. According to the latest data, 49.1 million Americans are below the poverty line, and... More »

Ranks of Poorest Poor Swell to New High

One in 15 live below half the poverty level

(Newser) - We've got the top 1% , the 99% , and the 53% , but the poorest of the nation's poor has hit a new high: 6.7% of Americans now fall below half of the federal poverty line, reports the AP . That means about 20.5 million Americans, or one in... More »

Nearly 1 in 6 in US Lives in Poverty

In 2010, 15.1% lived below poverty line: US census data

(Newser) - Unsettling news from the US Census Bureau: Nearly one in six people lived in poverty last year. About 46.2 million people, or 15.1%, were below the poverty line, compared to 43.6 million, or 14.3%, in 2009, the AP reports. CNN adds that the poverty rate was... More »

Chasm Between Haves, Have-Nots Is a Societal Cancer

Money can't buy happiness, but the lack of it can cause profound problems

(Newser) - America's stunning inequality is not just economic, it is also an inequality of the soul, writes Nick Kristof in the New York Times . Citing the work of two British epidemiologists, Kristof argues that severe inequality "tears at the human psyche, creating anxiety, distrust, and an array of mental and... More »

US Poverty Rate Hits Record 14.3%

One in 7 fall within guidelines; highest since at least '65

(AP) - The ranks of the working-age poor climbed to the highest level since the 1960s as the recession threw millions of people out of work last year, leaving one in seven Americans in poverty. The overall poverty rate climbed to 14.3%, or 43.6 million people, the Census Bureau said... More »

US Poverty Approaches 1960s Levels

Record increase expected with 2009 census results

(AP) - The number of people in the US who are in poverty is on track for a record increase on President Barack Obama's watch, with the ranks of working-age poor approaching 1960s levels that led to the national war on poverty. Census figures for 2009, the recession-ravaged first year of the... More »

US Poverty Rate Hits 11-Year High

First figures since recession reveal decline in incomes

(Newser) - The share of Americans living in poverty soared to 13.2% last year, its highest level since 1997, according to new census data. Median household income also fell, to $50,303 from $52,163 the previous year. Latinos have suffered the most from the recession. Their median income dropped by... More »

Ranks of Uninsured Grow; Poverty Rate Soars

(Newser) - The number of uninsured Americans rose to 46.3 million last year, up from 45.7 million in 2007, as the poverty rate hit an 11-year high, the Census Bureau announced today. The poverty rate was 13.2% for 2008, up from 12.5% in 2007, the largest annual jump... More »

Petitioners to CVS: Free the Condoms!

Cites particular concern in poor and minority areas

(Newser) - A labor coalition is sponsoring a petition calling on CVS to stop locking up condoms, the Kansas City Star reports. More than 200 groups across the country have signed the appeal to stop the practice, which the mega-chain says is an anti-shoplifting measure but critics say scares off would-be shoppers.... More »

Ranks of Uninsured Drop by 1M

Poverty rate unchanged, median incomes rise

(Newser) - There were a million fewer uninsured Americans last year, the first annual decrease under the Bush administration, according to Census Bureau data released today. Median household incomes also rose slightly for the third consecutive year, while the nation’s poverty rate held steady at just over 12%, AP reports. The... More »

US Poverty Rate Dips, but Uninsured Swell

Income inequality reaches all-time high

(Newser) - The US poverty rate has finally taken a downturn for the first time in 10 years, census figures show. The poverty rate was 12.3% in 2006, down from 12.6% the previous year, and annual household income rose to $48,200. But the news isn't all rosy: the number... More »

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