Bert Dirschell
Centertown
Dear Editor:
Has anyone read about the September 2020 Census Bureau's report on "Income and Poverty in the United States 2019"? Some highlights follow:
Median household income was $68,703 in 2019, a 6.8 percent increase from 2018 and a 9.2 percent increase from 2016. In 2019, inflation-adjusted median household income was the highest since the beginning of record-keeping in 1967, the 2018-19 increase is also the largest increase on record.
From 2018-19 real median household income for Blacks increased 7.9 percent, 7.1 percent for Hispanic Americans and an astounding 10.1 percent for Asian Americans.
The 2019 poverty rate dropped to a 60-year low of 10.5 percent. More than 4.1 million people were lifted out of poverty, the largest decrease since 1966. The overall poverty rate dropped by 1.3 percentage points; the Black poverty rate dropped by 2.0 percentage points, Hispanic poverty rate by 1.8 and the Asian poverty rate by 2.8.
The child poverty rate dropped to 14.4 percent, the lowest since 1973.
Along with the growth in household incomes, income inequality has lessened; the share of income received by the bottom 20 percent increased by 2.4 percent.
Is it possible that the best cure for poverty is a job?
www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/publications/2020/demo/p60-270.pdf