Jasmine V. Tucker, National Academy of Social Insurance
Today marks the release of new data from the Census Bureau on Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2011. Some key points from the report are:
- More than 1 out of 7 people lived in poverty in 2011, including more than 1 in 5 children, which is unchanged from 2010.
- Social Security lifted 21.4 million people out of poverty in 2011 (including 1.1 million children), up from 20.2 million (including 1.1 million children) in 2010.
- Unemployment insurance lifted just 2.3 million people out of poverty in 2011 (including 600,000 children), down from 3.2 million (including nearly 900,000 children) in 2010.
- The number of people who went without healthcare coverage declined from 50.0 million in 2010 to 46.8 million in 2011. The uninsured rate dropped from 16.3% in 2010 to 15.8% in 2011.
- Real median household income declined 1.5% from $50,831 in 2010 to $50,054 in 2011.
For more on income, poverty, and health insurance coverage data, view the Census Bureau’s full report here and the webinar presentation here.