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 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:  TUESDAY, SEPT. 13, 2011 Income, Poverty and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2010 Summary of Key Findings The U.S. Census Bureau announced today that in 2010, median household income declined,  the poverty rate increased and the percentage without health insurance coverage  was not statistically different from the previous year. Real median  household income in the United States in 2010 was $49,445, a 2.3 percent  decline from the 2009 median. The nation's  official poverty rate in 2010 was 15.1 percent, up from 14.3 percent in 2009 ─  the third consecutive annual increase in the poverty rate.  There were 46.2 million people in poverty in  2010, up from 43.6 million in 2009 ─ the fourth consecutive annual increase and  the largest number in the 52 years for which poverty estimates have been  published. The number  of people without health insurance coverage rose from 49.0 million in 2009 to 49.9  million in 2010, while the percentage without coverage −16.3 percent - was not  statistically different from the rate in 2009. This information  covers the first full calendar year after the December 2007-June 2009  recession. See section on the historical impact of recessions. These  findings are contained in the report Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance  Coverage in the United States: 2010. The following results for the nation  were compiled from information collected in the 2011 Current Population Survey  (CPS) Annual Social and Economic Supplement (ASEC): **Income** Since 2007, the  year before the most recent recession, real median household income has  declined 6.4 percent and is 7.1 percent below the median household income peak  that occurred prior to the 2001 recession in 1999. The percentages are not  statistically different from each another. **Race and Hispanic Origin (Race data  refer to people reporting a single race only. Hispanics can be of any race.)** Among race  groups, real median income declined for white and black households between 2009  and 2010, while changes for Asian and Hispanic-origin households were not statistically  different. Real median income for each race and Hispanic-origin group has not  yet recovered to the pre-2001 recession all-time highs. (See Table A.) **Regions** Households in the  Midwest, South and West experienced declines in real median income between 2009  and 2010. The apparent change in median household income for the Northeast was not  statistically significant. (See Table A.) **Nativity** Median income for  households maintained by native-born householders declined between 2009 and  2010 in real terms. The change in the median income of all foreign-born  households was not statistically significant. (See Table A.) **Earnings** In 2010, the  earnings of women who worked full time, year-round were 77 percent of that for men  working full time, year-round, not statistically different from the 2009 ratio.  The 2010 real median earnings of these men and women were not different from  the 2009 earnings. Since 2007, the  number of men working full time, year-round with earnings decreased by 6.6  million and the number of corresponding women declined by 2.8 million. **Income Inequality** Based on the Gini  Index, the change in income inequality between 2009 and 2010 was not  statistically significant, while the changes in shares of aggregate household  income by quintiles showed a slight shift to more inequality. The Gini index  was 0.469 in 2010. 
  (The Gini index is a measure of household income  inequality; zero represents perfect income equality and 1 perfect inequality.) **Poverty** The poverty rate  in 2010 was the highest since 1993 but was 7.3 percentage points lower than the  poverty rate in 1959, the first year for which poverty estimates are available.  Since 2007, the poverty rate has increased by 2.6 percentage points. In 2010, the  family poverty rate and the number of families in poverty were 11.7 percent and  9.2 million, respectively, up from 11.1 percent and 8.8 million in 2009. The poverty rate  and the number in poverty increased for both married-couple families (6.2  percent and 3.6 million in 2010 from 5.8 percent and 3.4 million in 2009) and female-householder-with-no-husband-present  families (31.6 percent and 4.7 million in 2010 from 29.9 percent and 4.4  million in 2009).  For families with a male  householder  no wife present, the poverty  rate and the number in poverty were not statistically different from 2009 (15.8  percent and 880,000 in 2010). **Thresholds** As defined by the  Office of Management and Budget and updated for inflation using the Consumer  Price Index, the weighted average poverty threshold for a family of four in  2010 was $22,314.
  (See <https://www.census.gov/hhes/www/poverty/data/threshld/index.html> for the  complete set of dollar value thresholds that vary by family size and  composition.) **Race and Hispanic Origin (Race data refer to people  reporting a single race only. Hispanics can be of any race.)** The poverty rate  for non-Hispanic whites was lower in 2010 than it was for other racial  groups. Table B details 2010 poverty rates and  numbers in poverty, as well as changes since 2009 in these measures, for race  groups and Hispanics. **Doubled-Up Households** Doubled-up  households are defined as households that include at least one "additional"  adult: a person 18 or older who is not enrolled in school and is not the  householder, spouse or cohabiting partner of the householder. In spring 2007,  prior to the recession, doubled-up households totaled 19.7 million. By spring  2011, the number of doubled-up households had increased by 2.0 million to 21.8  million and the percent rose by 1.3 percentage points from 17.0 percent to 18.3  percent. In spring 2011,  5.9 million young adults age 25-34 (14.2 percent) resided in their parents'  household, compared with 4.7 million (11.8 percent) before the recession, an  increase of 2.4 percentage points. It is difficult  to precisely assess the impact of doubling up on overall poverty rates. Young  adults age 25-34, living with their parents, had an official poverty rate of  8.4 percent, but if their poverty status were determined using their own  income, 45.3 percent had an income below the poverty threshold for a single  person under age 65. **Age** The poverty rate  increased for children younger than 18 (from 20.7 percent in 2009 to 22.0 percent  in 2010) and people 18 to 64 (from 12.9 percent in 2009 to 13.7 percent in 2010),  while it was not statistically different for people 65 and older (9.0 percent). Similar to the  patterns observed for the poverty rate in 2010, the number of people in poverty  increased for children younger than 18 (15.5 million in 2009 to 16.4 million in  2010) and people 18 to 64 (24.7 million in 2009 to 26.3 million in 2010) and was  not statistically different for people 65 and older (3.5 million). **Nativity** The 2010 poverty  rate for naturalized citizens was not statistically different from 2009, while  the poverty rates of native-born and noncitizens increased. Table B details  2010 poverty rates and the numbers in poverty, as well as changes since 2009 in  these measures, by nativity. **Regions** The South was the  only region to show statistically significant increases in both the poverty  rate and the number in poverty -- 16.9 percent and 19.1 million in 2010 -- up  from 15.7 percent and 17.6 million in 2009. In 2010, the poverty rates and the  number in poverty for the Northeast, Midwest and the West were not  statistically different from 2009. (See Table B.) **Health Insurance Coverage** The number of  people with health insurance increased to 256.2 million in 2010 from 255.3 million  in 2009. The percentage of people with health insurance was not statistically  different from 2009. Between 2009 and  2010, the percentage of people covered by private health insurance declined from  64.5 percent to 64.0 percent, while the percentage covered by government health  insurance increased from 30.6 percent to 31.0 percent. The percentage covered  by employment-based health insurance declined from 56.1 percent to 55.3 percent. The percentage  covered by Medicaid (15.9 percent) was not statistically different from 2009. In 2010, 9.8  percent of children under 18 (7.3 million) were without health insurance.  Neither estimate is significantly different from the corresponding 2009 estimate. The uninsured rate  for children in poverty (15.4 percent) was greater than the rate for all  children (9.8 percent). In 2010, the  uninsured rates decreased as household income increased from 26.9 percent for  those in households with annual incomes less than $25,000 to 8.0 percent in  households with incomes of $75,000 or more. **Race and Hispanic Origin (Race data refer to those  reporting a single race only. Hispanics can be of any race.)** The uninsured  rate and number of uninsured in 2010 were not statistically different from 2009  for non-Hispanic whites and blacks, while increasing for Asians. The number of  uninsured Hispanics was not statistically different from 2009, while the  uninsured rate decreased to 30.7 percent. (See Table C.) **Nativity** The proportion of  the foreign-born population without health insurance in 2010 was about two-and-a-half  times that of the native-born population. The 2010 uninsured rate was not statistically  different from the 2009 rate for native-born, the foreign-born overall and noncitizens  but rose for naturalized citizens. Table C details the 2010 uninsured rate and  the number of uninsured, as well as changes since 2009 in these measures, by  nativity. **Regions** The Northeast and  the Midwest had the lowest uninsured rates in 2010. Between 2009 and 2010,  there were no statistical differences in uninsured rates for any of the regions.  The number of uninsured increased in the Northeast, while there were no  statistically significant changes for the other three regions. (See Table C.) **Historical Impact of Recessions** Since 2010 represents the  first full calendar year after the recession that ended in June 2009, one can compare  changes in income, poverty and health insurance coverage between 2009 and 2010  with changes during the first year after the end of other recessions: Median household  income declined the first full year following the December 2007 to June 2009  recession, as well as in the first full year following three other recessions  (March 2001 to November 2001, January 1980 to July 1980 and December 1969 to  November 1970). However, household income increased the first full year following  the November 1973 to March 1975 recession, and the changes following the July  1990 to March 1991 and July 1981 to November 1982 recessions were not  statistically significant. The poverty rate  and the number of people in poverty increased in the first calendar year  following the end of the last three recessions. For the recessions that ended  in 1961 and 1975, the poverty rate decreased in the next full calendar year. After the most  recent recession, there was no significant difference in the uninsured rate  during the first full year after the recession. However, in the year following  the recessions that ended in 1991 and 2001, the uninsured rate increased. **Supplemental Poverty Measure** The Census Bureau's statistical experts,  with assistance from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and in consultation with the  Office of Management and Budget, the Economics and Statistics Administration  and other appropriate agencies and outside experts, are now developing a  Supplemental Poverty Measure. The Supplemental Poverty Measure, for which the  Census Bureau expects to publish preliminary estimates in October 2011, will  provide an additional measure of economic well-being. It will not replace the  official poverty measure and will not be used to determine eligibility for  government programs. See *Income, Poverty,  and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2010* for more information. **The Current Population Survey  Annual Social and Economic Supplement is subject to sampling and nonsampling  errors. All comparisons made in the report have been tested and found to be  statistically significant at the 90 percent confidence level, unless otherwise  noted.** **For additional information on the source of the data and accuracy of the estimates  for the CPS, visit <https://www.census.gov/hhes/www/p60_239sa.pdf>.**  **Table A. Median Household Income****2009**
      **2010**
      **Percent change in real median  income**(in 2010 dollars)**Region**U.S.
      $50,599
      $49,445
      *-2.3Northeast
      $53,949
      $53,283
      -1.2Midwest.
      $49,684
      $48,445
      *-2.5South
      $46,368
      $45,492
      *-1.9West
      $54,722
      $53,142
      *-2.9**Race and  Hispanic Origin of Householder**White
      $52,717
      $51,846
      *-1.7White, not  Hispanic
      $55,360
      $54,620
      -1.3Black
      $33,122
      $32,068
      *-3.2Asian
      $66,550
      $64,308
      -3.4Hispanic origin
      $38,667
      $37,759
      -2.3**Nativity of  Householder**Native-born
      $51,337
      $50,288
      *-2.0Foreign-born
      $44,648
      $43,750
      -2.0Naturalized  citizen
      $52,833
      $52,642
      -0.4Not a citizen
      $36,685
      $36,401
      -0.8*Change statistically significant at the 90 percent  confidence level.   **Table B. People in Poverty****2009**
      **2010**
      **Change in poverty**Number
      Percent
      Number
      Percent
      Number
      Perecnt**Region**U.S.
      43,569
      14.3
      46,180
      15.1
      *2,611
      *0.8Northeast
      6,650
      12.2
      6,987
      12.8
      336
      0.6Midwest.
      8,768
      13.3
      9,148
      13.9
      380
      0.6South
      17,609
      15.7
      19,072
      16.9
      *1,463
      *1.2West
      10,542
      14.8
      10,973
      15.3
      431
      0.5**Race and  Hispanic Origin**White
      29,830
      12.3
      31,650
      13.0
      *1,819
      *0.7White, not  Hispanic
      18,530
      9.4
      19,599
      9.9
      *1,070
      *05Black
      9,944
      25.8
      10,675
      27.4
      *732
      *1.6Asian
      1,746
      12.5
      1,729
      12.1
      -17
      -0.4Hispanic origin
      12,350
      25.3
      13,243
      26.6
      *893
      *1.3**Nativity**Native-born
      36,407
      13.7
      38,568
      14.4
      *2,161
      *0.7Foreign-born
      7,162
      19.0
      7,611
      19.9
      *450
      0.9Naturalized  citizen
      1,736
      10.8
      1,906
      11.3
      *169
      0.5Not a citizen
      5,425
      25.1
      5,706
      26.7
      281
      *1.5*Statistically different from zero at the 90 percent confidence level.   **Table  C. People Without Health Insurance Coverage****2009**
      **2010**
      **Change**Number
      Percent
      Number
      Percent
      Number
      Perecnt**Region**U.S.
      48,985
      16.1
      49,904
      16.3
      *919
      0.2Northeast
      6,434
      11.8
      6,779
      12.4
      *345
      0.6Midwest.
      8,368
      12.7
      8,605
      13.0
      237
      0.4South
      21,576
      19.2
      21,665
      19.1
      88
      -0.1West
      12,606
      17.7
      12,855
      17.9
      249
      0.2**Race and  Hispanic Origin**White
      37,124
      15.3
      37,385
      15.4
      261
      --White, not  Hispanic
      22,715
      11.5
      23,093
      11.7
      378
      0.2Black
      7,838
      20.3
      8,132
      20.8
      294
      0.5Asian
      2,317
      16.5
      2,600
      18.1
      *284
      *1.6Hispanic origin
      15,450
      31.6
      15,340
      30.7
      -110
      *-0.9**Nativity**Native-born
      36,305
      13.6
      36,881
      13.8
      576
      0.2Foreign-born
      12,680
      33.7
      13,023
      34.1
      343
      0.4Naturalized  citizen
      2,951
      18.4
      3,356
      20.0
      *405
      *1.6Not a citizen
      9,729
      45.1
      9,667
      45.1
      -62
      --*Change statistically significant from zero at the 90 percent confidence level.
 
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