U.S. poverty down slightly, but Americans with no health insurance up

Published: 2007-08-28

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The number of Americans living in poverty went down slightly last year, according to the Census Bureau's annual report, but the number of uninsured Americans rose a bit. The dip in the poverty rate -- the first this decade -- brought the percentage of Americans living in poverty from 12.6 percent in 2005 to 12.3 percent in 2006. The number of people in poverty -- 36.5 million -- was "not statistically different" from 2005 levels, the Census Bureau said in an announcement. The child poverty rate stayed the same, at 17.4 percent, while the poverty rates for adults and senior citizens declined. Both the number and percentage of Americans without health insurance rose from year-before levels -- from 44.8 million to 47 million, and from 15.3 percent uninsured to 15.8 percent. The number of uninsured children increased from 8 million, or 10.9 percent in 2005, to 8.7 million, or 11.7 percent, last year. "Catholic Charities USA is extremely troubled that the number of uninsured, including children, continues to increase," said Father Larry Snyder, the organization's president, in a statement issued shortly after the numbers were released Aug. 28. "We firmly believe that there is no excuse for any child in our nation to go without access to health care, which is critically important to the well-being and development of all children." The increase in the number of uninsured Americans coincided with a dip in the percentage of people who have private health insurance. In 2005, 65.8 percent had private health insurance; in 2006, 64.8 percent did. Texas led with 24.1 percent of its residents uninsured. Minnesota was lowest with 8.3 percent of its residents uninsured. As of 2006, more than one-third of all Hispanics, and one-fifth of all African-Americans, lacked health insurance.

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