EMBARGOED UNTIL: 10:30 A.M. EDT, SEPTEMBER 26, 1996 (THURSDAY) Please note our new policy: NO BROADCAST OR PRINT BEFORE 10:30 A.M. EDT Public Information Office CB96-159 301-457-3030/301-457-3670 (fax) 301-457-4067 (TDD) e-mail: pio@census.gov Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance 301-763-8576 INCOME AND POVERTY STATUS OF AMERICANS IMPROVE, HEALTH INSURANCE COVERAGE STABLE, CENSUS BUREAU REPORTS Between 1994 and 1995, for the first time in six years, households in the United States experienced an annual increase in median income after adjusting for inflation, and the number of Americans living below the poverty level dropped for the second straight year. This is according to three reports released today by the Commerce Department's Census Bureau. State data on income, poverty, and health insurance also are included in the reports entitled, "Money Income in the United States: 1995," "Poverty in the United States: 1995," and "Health Insurance Coverage: 1995." "In 1995, there were 36.4 million poor people living in the United States, 1.6 million fewer than recorded in 1994. Also, 13.8 percent of the nation's population were living below the poverty level in 1995, a rate lower than the 14.5 percent noted for the previous year," according to Daniel Weinberg, chief of the Census Bureau's Housing and Household Economic Statistics Division. The median income of households in 1995 was $34,076 or 2.7 percent higher than the 1994 inflation-adjusted amount of $33,178. Even though overall household income has not yet recovered to its 1989 pre-recessionary peak of $35,421 (in 1995 dollars), the gap has narrowed. In fact, selected groups--households in the Midwest, African American households, family households maintained by women with no husband present, and households maintained by people aged 55 to 64--all had incomes in 1995 comparable to their 1989 incomes (in 1995 dollars). "The increase in real income between 1994 and 1995 was pretty broad-based, covering both family and nonfamily households. This is the first time since these distinctions were made in 1980 that an increase in median income has occurred for all types of households," Weinberg adds. This is the first year the Census Bureau is presenting poverty and income estimates for immigrants. The poverty rate of the native-born population declined from 13.8 percent in 1994 to 13.0 percent in 1995, while the rate among foreign-born individuals remained unchanged at 22.2 percent. The real median income of households maintained by a person born in the U.S. rose by 3.1 percent, to $34,784, between 1994 and 1995. In comparison, the median income of foreign-born households was unchanged at $28,352. On the health care front, the number of people without health insurance in 1995 was 40.6 million, or 15.4 percent of the country's population, unchanged from 1994. The proportion of poor people without health insurance was 30.2 percent, not different from 1994 and double the rate for all persons. Other highlights on poverty, income, and health insurance follow: Poverty - Both the number and rate of poor children under 18 in the country dropped between 1994 and 1995, from 15.3 million to 14.7 million and from 21.8 percent to 20.8 percent. Also, people in the age groups between 35 to 44 and 60 years and over had decreases in their number and proportion who were poor. - About one-half (49 percent) of the nation's poor in 1995 were either under 18 years of age or 65 and over. - There was a decline in both the rate (from 11.6 percent to 10.8 percent) and the number (from 8.1 million to 7.5 million) of poor families between 1994 and 1995. - The poverty rates for married-couples (5.6 percent), male householder families (14.0 percent), and families with a female householder, no spouse present (32.4 percent) all declined from 1994 to 1995. - Between 1994 and 1995, the poverty rate decreased for both Whites and African Americans, while there was no change for people of Hispanic origin or Asians and Pacific Islanders. The majority of poor people in 1995 were White (67 percent) and 45 percent of the poor were non-Hispanic White. - The Midwest was the only region to experience a change in its poverty rate, which fell from 13.0 percent in 1994 to 11.0 percent in 1995. - Based on a three-year average covering 1993 to 1995, state poverty rates ranged from 7.6 percent in New Hampshire to 23.9 percent in Louisiana. - Using two-year moving averages comparing 1993-94 with 1994-95, nine states-- Ark., Ky., La., Mich., Mo., N.H., N.J., W.Va., and Wis.--had drops in their poverty rates, while New Mexico showed an increase. - In addition to the official income and poverty data released today, the Census Bureau also released income and poverty estimates based on 17 other definitions of income. Income - The Midwest region was the only region to experience a change in real median household income between 1994 and 1995, increasing 7.2 percent from $33,426 to $35,839. This is the first annual increase in median household income experienced by the Midwest since 1988. - Based on comparisons of two-year moving averages, real median household income increased for 11 states (Colo., Ill., Iowa, Ky., Maine, Miss., Mo., Pa., Tenn., Texas, Wis.), while the remaining 39 states and the District of Columbia showed no change. - A comparison of income among the states using the three-year average of 1993-95 shows that median household income for Alaska, although not different from that of Hawaii, was higher than that of the remaining 48 states and the District of Columbia. West Virginia's income, although not different from that of Mississippi or Arkansas, was lower than that of the remaining 47 states and the District of Columbia. - Between 1994 and 1995, the median income of White households increased in real terms by 2.2 percent to $35,766, while the median income of African American households rose by 3.6 percent to $22,393. (The difference between these percentage changes was not statistically significant.) Also, during this period, the median income of Hispanic households declined by 5.1 percent to $22,860. (The income level of African American households was not significantly different from that for Hispanic households.) The income of Asian and Pacific Islander households was unchanged at $40,614; the small sample sizes for the Asian and Pacific Islander population do not allow us to determine that there are any differences in their income changes from those for other racial or ethnic groups. - The 1995 annual real median earnings of women working year round, full time was $22,497, while the real median earnings for men was $31,496. The ratio of female-to-male earnings remains unchanged, at 71 percent. - There was no change in overall income inequality between 1994 and 1995, nor was there a change in real per capita income. Health Insurance - Most people (84.6 percent) had some health insurance in 1995, and many people were covered by more than one type of insurance. The proportion of people with private health coverage was 70.3 percent. The proportion of people with some kind of government coverage was 26.4 percent--13.1 percent had Medicare, 12.1 percent had Medicaid, and 3.5 percent had military coverage. - 30.2 percent of the poor (11.0 million) had no health insurance of any kind in 1995, unchanged from the previous year and about double the rate for all people. Poor people comprised 27.1 percent of all the uninsured. - Medicaid was the most widespread type of coverage among the poor. About 46.4 percent of all poor people were covered by Medicaid at some time during the year. - Young adults aged 18 to 24 were more likely than other age groups to lack coverage (28.2 percent), while the elderly were at the other extreme (only 0.9 percent lacked coverage). - Part-time workers (less than 35 hours per week) had a non-coverage rate of 22.4 percent, while the rate for full-time workers was 16.4 percent. - In 1995, a higher proportion of the foreign-born population in the U.S. was without health insurance (32.5 percent), compared with the native-born population (13.6 percent). - Percentages of people without health insurance ranged from 7.3 percent in Wisconsin to 25.6 percent in New Mexico. The information presented above is from the March 1996 Current Population Survey. As in all surveys, the data are subject to sampling variability and other sources of error.-X-The Census Bureau--preeminent collector and provider of timely, relevant, and quality data about the people and economy of the United States. In over 100 surveys annually and 20 censuses a decade, evolving from the first census in 1790, the Census Bureau provides, official information about America's people, businesses, industries, and institutions.
