Domestic Poverty on the Rise

Yesterday's Washington Post had an article chock full of statistics about poverty in the U.S. Check it out. Apparently, according to the Census Bureau, the U.S. poverty rate rose to 12.7 percent of the population for the fourth consecutive annual increase. This is a high number for a developed country, especially considering the fact that for example, Vietnam's national poverty line remains at 28.9 percent, a little over half the U.S. percentage for a smaller population (2002 World Bank statistics, World Development Indicators 05).

Also, here's what a Brookings Institute member had to say yesterday about the new Census Bureau figures:

"New data on the poverty rate in the United States indicate that not everyone in America is doing well. We have now had four years in which the poverty rate has risen, from 11.3 percent in 2000 to 12.7 percent in 2004. Yet these discouraging figures have occasioned little comment in the media or among elected officials of either party."

Isabel Sawhill 
August 30, 2005

- From the Brookings Institute website