National poverty rate increases for 4th straight year
Kentucky.com, KY BY WILLIAM NEIKIRK
Chicago Tribune (h)
WASHINGTON - (KRT) - With the Midwest leading the way, the nation’s poverty rate went up in 2004 for the fourth straight year even as the U.S. economy strengthened, the Census Bureau said Tuesday.
The number of Americans without health insurance increased from 45 million to 45.8 million in 2004, the bureau said, although the number of people with health-care coverage grew by 2 million.
In its annual snapshot of the nation’s economic landscape, the bureau also said the inflation-adjusted average median household income of $44,389 last year was virtually unchanged from 2003, when it was $44,482.
This figure was an indication that many middle-class families experienced an actual decline in their standard of living last year. [more]