More People In Poverty, More Uninsured, In 2004

Click here for percent and number of persons living below poverty, by state.

Click here for percent and number of persons without health insurance, by state.

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The Number of Poor and Uninsured Rise Again In A Period of Unshared Prosperity;
Congress Should Not Make Things Worse, say Human Needs Advocates

The Census Bureau released its annual report today about poverty, income, and health insurance coverage. Analysts were startled to see poverty rise by 1.1 million people from 2003 to 2004, despite some indicators of economic growth during that period. The number of people without health insurance also rose, from 45 million in 2003 to 45.8 million in 2004. Poverty and lack of health insurance have been growing worse since 2000.

The report is particularly timely because Congress is scheduled to take up proposals to cut basic programs that could take billions of dollars from Medicaid and Food Stamps. Congressional committees have been directed to cut $13 billion over 5 years in programs that include Medicaid and agricultural programs. But Congress can reject reductions that deny benefits to needy people or that make poor people pay more for necessary services.

Deborah Weinstein, Executive Director of the Coalition on Human Needs, made this statement:

“With more Americans going without health insurance and 37 million poor, Congress should reject any proposal to make things worse. When Congress passed its budget resolution last spring, it directed certain committees to make cuts that are expected to include Medicaid and Food Stamps. Today the Census Bureau reports that 800,000 more people lack health coverage and that poverty remains a growing blight on our national conscience. The hardships faced by millions of Americans, young and old, demand that Congress and the Administration turn away from cutting nutrition and health care while giving billions more in tax cuts for the well-off and well-connected.

“Congressional leaders and the Administration have turned their backs on struggling Americans time and time again, handing billions in tax cuts to those with lots of money and connections and trying repeatedly to cut the essential help needed by people with little money and poor health. When Congress returns in September, the leadership wants to do it again – still more tax cuts paid for with borrowed money and cuts in medical care and food aid.

“Congress must recognize that each statistic in the poverty report represents real people – people who cannot afford to see a doctor when they are sick, parents who go without food to make sure their children don't go hungry, or children whose growth is stunted because they get too little nutritious food. If Congress cuts Medicaid coverage or Food Stamps, it will deepen the hardships of Americans increasingly locked out of the opportunities to be secure and get ahead. Congress should take this disappointing report as a warning that tens of millions of Americans live everyday with the insecurity of too little income, inadequate nutrition, and no health coverage.”

Key Points from Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2004

Poverty:

Contrary to the expectations of a number of poverty analysts, poverty continued to rise in the U.S., by 1.1 million people from 2003 to 2004. There were 37 million poor people in America in 2004, up from about 35.9 million in 2003. The percentage poor rose from 12.5 percent in 2003 to 12.7 percent in 2004.

While the proportion of children in poverty is more or less the same, it edged up to more than 13 million children nationwide, up from nearly 12.9 million in 2003. In 2004, 17.8 percent of American children were poor.

Total poverty has been rising since 2000 - it was 11.3 percent in 2000 and rose to 12.7%.

Health Insurance:

The number of uninsured rose by 800,000, from 45 million in 2003 to 45.8 million in 2004. Because the number of people with health insurance rose in 2004 by 2 million, the rate of uninsured just edged slightly up from 15.6% to 15.7%.

The picture would have been worse if the number of people insured by Medicaid had not continued to grow. But it did, rising from 35.6 million people in 2003 to 37.5 million in 2004, up from 12.4% covered by Medicaid in 2003 to 12.9% covered in 2004. (The proportion of people getting employer-based insurance edged down slightly, from 60.4% to 59.8%. - 63.6% of people got health insurance through their jobs in 2000.)

State Data:

While the national average increase in poverty rates from 2000 to 2004 (using 2 year averages) was 1 percentage point (from 11.6% to 12.6%), a number of states had much bigger percentage point increases - here are the states with percentage point increases of 2 or more:

Arizona (2.0); Illinois (2.1); Indiana (3.2); Iowa (2.1); Kentucky (3.7); Michigan (2.5); North Carolina (2.0); South Carolina (2.4); South Dakota (3.8); Tennessee (2.3); Utah (2.8); Wisconsin (2.1).

Using this data in an English sentence: Since 2000 the Arizona poverty rate has climbed 2 full percentage points, double the national average.

Child poverty:

These states (and DC) had more than one in five of their children poor in 2004: Alabama, Arkansas, District of Columbia, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Tennessee, West Virginia.

Income:

Although overall median income has not changed significantly, it is striking that median earnings for men and women full-time workers have fallen from 2003 to 2004 - for men by 2.3%; for women by 1 percent (adjusted for inflation). For men, median full-time earnings declined from $41,761 to $40,798; for women earnings dipped from $31,550 to $31,223.

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The Coalition on Human Needs is a Washington, DC-based alliance of religious, service provider, civil rights, labor, research and policy, and other advocacy organizations concerned about the needs of low-income and vulnerable people. It receives no government funds.

To see statements from other human needs organizations about the growth in poverty and uninsurance in 2004, click here

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