U.S. poverty rate up in ‘03, census reports

The nation’s poverty rate rose by almost a half percentage point in 2003 over 2002, the U.S. Census Bureau reported yesterday, prompting Democrats to dismiss President Bush’s claim of an economic recovery.

In 2003, the poverty rate was 12.5 percent, or 35.9 million people, up from 12.1 percent, or 34.6 million people in 2002.

The median household income — $43,318 — remained unchanged during the same period, according to “Income, Poverty and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2003.”

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, Massachusetts Democrat, said the new data debunk Mr. Bush’s statements that the “economy has turned the corner.” He said the report is “new evidence” that the president’s economic policy “continues to fail millions of our citizens.”

But Robert Rector, a senior fellow with the Heritage Foundation who specializes in economic issues, countered, “It’s important to recognize that the census poverty figures … are one year old. They cover 2003, not the current year.

“Given the current economic conditions, it is extremely likely that [the poverty rate] fell during 2004, although the official figures will not be available for the next 12 months.”

Locally, the poverty rate declined slightly in Washington, although the poverty rate in the District remained the nation’s sixth-highest at about one in six persons, declining from 17.6 percent in 2001-02 to 16.9 percent in 2002-03.

“The 2000 census ranked us as number 2, so it’s a jump,” said Lynn French, senior policy adviser to the D.C. deputy mayor for children, youths, families and elders. “There has been an improvement … [but] we still have a long way to go.”

The five states with higher poverty rates in 2002-03 than the District are Arkansas (18.8 percent), Louisiana (17.2 percent), Mississippi (17.2 percent), New Mexico (18.0 percent) and West Virginia (17.1 percent).

Ms. French said the poverty data should be viewed in the context of the District’s unique status.

“We are just an urban city,” she said. “Poverty nationally tends to be concentrated in cities. It is kind of unfair to compare us to states.”

As defined by the federal Office of Management and Budget and updated for inflation using the Consumer Price Index, the average poverty threshold for a family of four in 2003 was $18,810. For a family of three, it was $14,680; for a family of two, it was $12,015; and for individual persons, it was $9,393.

Nationally, the poverty rate remained strongest among immigrants, with 21.7 percent of foreign-born noncitizens living below the poverty line in 2003, up from 20.7 percent in 2002. This percentage of poor among noncitizens is almost twice the 11.8 percent figure for native-born Americans, and more than twice the 10 percent for foreign-born naturalized citizens.

The median household income of people born in the United States was $44,347 in 2003, the same as it was in 2002. But the median household income of the foreign-born declined by 3.5 percent to $37,499.

The District’s neighboring states had relatively low poverty rates coupled with some of the nation’s highest median household incomes, according to the census data. Maryland’s poverty rate was 8.0 percent, or 49th among the 51 jurisdictions compared, and Virginia’s 10.0 percent ranked it 36th.

Story Continues →