Date: Thu, 30 Sep 1999 10:47:21 -0400 (EDT) From: owner-press-release at Census.GOV
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Public Information Office CB99-188 301-457-3030/301-457-3670 (fax) 301-457-1037 (TDD) e-mail: pio at census.gov
Income and Poverty Information Staff 301-457-3242
Household Income at Record High;
Poverty Declines in 1998, Census Bureau Reports
A fourth straight year of growth in real median household income made 1998 the year with the highest income levels ever recorded, as poverty dropped significantly and the children's poverty rate was lower than 20 percent for the first time since 1980, according to reports released today by the Commerce Department's Census Bureau.
"All types of households saw significant gains in real median household income between 1997 and 1998 and, for the first time since 1975, all four regions of the country experienced significant increases," said Daniel Weinberg, chief of the Census Bureau's Housing and Household Economic Statistics Division. "Also, 1998 was the first year that real median household income surpassed its 1989 prerecessionary peak."
As income rose, the proportion of the population living below the poverty level dropped to 12.7 percent (34.5 million people) in 1998, down from 13.3 percent (35.6 million people) in 1997. The number of poor children and their poverty rate decreased as well, from 14.1 million, or 19.9 percent, in 1997 to 13.5 million, or 18.9 percent, in 1998. This was the first time the poverty rate for children has been statistically below 20 percent since 1980.
The South's poverty rate declined to a new record low of 13.7 percent, down from 14.6 percent in 1997.
Nationwide, the number of poor non-Hispanic Whites (15.8 million) and poor Hispanics (8.1 million) did not change significantly, but the poverty rate for both groups experienced a significant decrease. For non-Hispanic Whites, the rate dropped from 8.6 percent to 8.2 percent. For Hispanics, 25.6 percent were poor in 1998, down from 27.1 percent in 1997.
Although the 1998 poverty rate for African Americans -- 26.1 percent, or 9.1 million people -- remained statistically unchanged from 1997, it continued to represent the lowest rate since 1959, the earliest year for which poverty statistics are available.
The poverty rate for Asians and Pacific Islanders -- 12.5 percent, or 1.4 million people -- also did not change from the previous year.
The average poverty threshold for a family of four in 1998 was $16,660 in annual income; it was $13,003 for a family of three.
On the income front, between 1997 and 1998, the median income level for the nation's households rose 3.5 percent in real terms, from $37,581 to a new high of $38,885. The previous high -- in 1998 dollars -- was $37,884 in 1989 (not statistically different from the 1997 median income of households).
Among the racial groups, non-Hispanic White households were the only group to experience statistically significant growth in real median household income between 1997 and 1998, increasing 3.0 percent, from $41,209 to $42,439. As a result, the median income of non-Hispanic White households is the highest recorded since 1972, the first year data by Hispanic or non-Hispanic origin were collected.
Hispanic households experienced their third consecutive year of rising income -- going from $27,043 to $28,330 between 1997 and 1998, a 4.8 percent increase. (The difference between the 1997-98 percentage increase in the median incomes of non-Hispanic White households and Hispanic households was not statistically significant.)
The reports, Money Income in the United States: 1998 and Poverty in the United States: 1998, include data for states. These reports are available on the Internet at <http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/income98.html> for income and <http://www.census.gov/ hhes/www/povty98.html> for poverty.
Other highlights:
Poverty
- Based on comparisons of two-year moving averages (1996-97 and 1997-98),
New Mexico and Virginia had significant drops in their poverty rates
while North Dakota showed an increase; the other states had no
significant change.
- Using three-year averages (1996-98), poverty rates ranged from 8.4 percent
in New Hampshire to 22.7 percent in Washington, D.C. Although numerically
the lowest, the rate for New Hampshire was not statistically different
from 19 other states and the rate for Washington, D.C., was not
statistically different from the rate for New Mexico.
- While the South achieved an all-time low, none of the other regions
(Northeast, Midwest and West) experienced significant declines in
their poverty rates in 1998.
- The poverty rate for metropolitan areas was 12.3 percent in 1998, but
those living inside central cities had a poverty rate (18.5 percent)
more than twice that of those living in the suburbs (8.7 percent).
- Families of Hispanic origin had a significant decline in their poverty
rate: 22.7 percent were poor in 1998, down from 24.7 percent in 1997.
There was no change statistically in the number of Hispanic families
who were poor. For the racial groups, neither the poverty rate nor
the number of poor families changed significantly.
- Despite the drop in child poverty, children under age 6 remained
particularly vulnerable; those living in families with a female
householder and no husband present experienced a poverty rate of
54.8 percent, more than five times the rate for children under 6 in
married-couple families (10.1 percent).
Income
- Based on comparisons of two-year moving averages (1996-97 and 1997-98),
real median household income increased for 16 states. Six of these states
(Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, Washington and Wyoming) were in
the West; four (Alabama, Florida, Georgia and Oklahoma) were in the
South; another four (Indiana, Minnesota, Missouri and Ohio) were in
the Midwest; and two (Pennsylvania and Vermont) were in the Northeast.
The only state to show a decline in real median household income was
Alaska.
- Using a three-year average (1996-98), median household income was
highest in Alaska ($51,421), though not statistically different from
New Jersey.
- 1998 were 4.4 percent in the Midwest, 3.0 percent in the West, 2.8 percent
in the Northeast and 2.6 percent in the South. (The differences were
not statistically significant.) While the Midwest and the South surpassed
pre-recessionary 1989 levels, the West stayed close to its 1989 level
and the Northeast still lagged 5.0 percent behind its 1989 level.
- Households outside of metropolitan areas experienced a 4.9 percent
increase in real median income between 1997 and 1998, from $30,525 to
$32,022. For households inside metropolitan areas, the growth was
2.5 percent from $39,994 to $40,983. (The difference between the
percentage changes in median household income for households located
outside metropolitan areas and inside metropolitan areas was not
statistically significant.)
- Even though median household income rose in real terms for all types
of households between 1997 and 1998, the percentage increase for
nonfamily households (6.3 percent, from $22,043 to $23,441) was twice
as high as the increase for family households (3.1 percent, from $46,053 to
$47,469). Although family households surpassed their pre-recessionary
1989 level in 1997, 1998 was the first year that nonfamily households
did so.
- Per capita income reached a new high by increasing 3.0 percent in real
terms between 1997 and 1998, from $19,541 to $20,120. For non-Hispanic
Whites, the growth was 3.2 percent, to $22,952, and for African Americans,
the increase was 3.3 percent, to $12,957. The per capita income of
Asians and Pacific Islanders ($18,709) did not change significantly
between 1997 and 1998. Hispanics experienced a 4.5 percent increase,
from $10,941 to $11,434. (The differences in the percentage increases
in per capita income between 1997 and 1998 for non-Hispanic Whites,
African Americans, Asians and Pacific Islanders and Hispanics were
not statistically significant.)
- The real median earnings of men and women who worked full time and
year-round increased between 1997 and 1998 by 3.4 percent and 2.0 percent,
respectively. (The difference between the percentage increases in the
earnings of men and women was not statistically significant.) It was
the second straight year of increases for men and third straight year
of increases for women. The female-to-male earnings ratio in 1998 was
0.73, not statistically different from its all-time high of 0.74 in 1996.
The data are from the March 1999 Current Population Survey. Statistics from sample surveys are subject to sampling and nonsampling error.
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Editor's Note: News releases, reports and data tables are available on the Census Bureau's Internet homepage at <http://www.census.gov>.