One in seven Americans
is living in poverty, Census shows
By Carol Morello
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday,
September 16, 2010; 3:08 PM
One in seven Americans is living in poverty, the highest number in the
half-century that the government has kept such statistics, the Census Bureau
announced Thursday.
Last year was the third consecutive year that the poverty rate climbed, in part because of the recession, rising
from 13.2 percent in 2008 to 14.3 percent, or 43.6 million people, last year.
Asians were the only ethnic group whose poverty rate did not change
substantially; every other race and Hispanics experienced increases in poverty
rates.
In addition, 51 million Americans were uninsured, as the number of people
with health insurance dropped from 255 million to less than 254 million -- the
first decrease since the government started keeping track in 1987. The number
would have been worse because 6.5 million fewer people got insurance through
their jobs, but it was offset by a leap in government-backed health insurance.
More than 30 percent of Americans now get coverage from the government.
"Given all the unemployment we saw, it's the government safety net that's
keeping people above the poverty line," Douglas Besharov, a University of
Maryland public policy professor and former scholar at the American Enterprise
Institute, told the Associated Press.
The grim statistics reflect the depth of the recession that began almost
three years ago and could have an impact on midterm elections less than two
months away.
"These numbers should be a wake-up call," said Peter Edelman, a Georgetown
University professor and co-director of the Georgetown Center on Poverty,
Inequality and Public Policy. "These are deeply disturbing numbers."
At organizations where the unemployed come to get help finding a job or seek
food, the numbers were no surprise.
"In the decade I've been doing this work, this is a low point," said Jason
Perkins-Cohen, executive director of the Job Opportunities Task Force in
Baltimore. "We're getting a real feeling of desperation. For sheer numbers, it's
a new, unhappy world."
At the nonprofit Action Though Service in Prince William County late Thursday
morning, the shelves of the agency's pantry were starting to empty, as the line
for help snaked out the door with a few dozen people seeking assistance.
Prince William resident Carol Williams said she has come to the shelter once
a month since January, when she was laid off from her job at United Medical
Center due to budget woes.
"I worked since I was 15, and, now, for the first time I don't have a job and
I can't feed my family," said Williams, 55. "I have a degree; doesn't matter.
The jobs aren't there."
Williams said she has been applying for dozens of jobs a week and had about
20 interviews since January. "I think people are scared to hire someone who is
not working," she said, adding there also is just a lot more competition because
of the high unemployment rate.
A single mother, Williams has five mouths to feed -- children and
grandchildren-- ranging in age from 17 months to 28. Williams said she was able
to raise three sons on her own, but she now turns to the food pantry at ACTS and
her father and friends for help.
"We had no bread, no nothing last Friday because the pantry was closed," she
said. "Luckily a friend helped me or we would have had no food for the weekend."
Advocates said they're seeing a lot more people like Williams.
"We have definitely seen many more individuals who are very well-educated,
with high degrees, where it's the first time to ever be in a situation to ever
have to ask for help for food or shelter," said Vickie Koth, executive director
of Good Shepherd Alliance in Loudoun County.
Koth recalls one family of four in particular, where both parents were highly
educated -- the mother was a lawyer, and the father was a mortgage broker. "They
were in the business of buying and selling homes, and they had three
foreclosures within the same span of time and were homeless for the first time.
"We're full all the time and we turn people away every day, and that's always
been true. But the types of people that call have changed," Koth said. "Time
after time I've heard individuals say, 'I've given to shelters, I've volunteered
at food pantries. I've never thought I'd be here myself.' "
Staff writers Jennifer Buske and Caitlin Gibson contributed to this
report.