Despite the fact that America is allegedly enjoying a period of economic recovery, economic indicators show that the average American is not reaping many benefits from the so-called turnaround.
According to statistics released by the Census Bureau on Tuesday, family income stagnated in the U.S. last year and 12.7 percent of Americans, or nearly 37 million people, now fall below the poverty rate. There were 1.1 million more Americans living in poverty in 2004 than there were in 2003 according to the census.
2004 also marked the fourth consecutive year that the number of Americans living in poverty has increased.
The median household income in the United States was $44,389 in 2004. That means that half of all American households earned more than that and half less. The 2004 figures were $93 lower than those of the year before after being adjusted for inflation.
In 1999, Americans median household income reached a record high of $46,128.
Democrats were quick to point out how the economic statistics show that the Bush administration does more for the rich than the average American.
'Wealthy Americans may be doing well in this economy, but most Americans are losing ground,' said Representative George Miller of California.
The Census Bureau report also indicates that 45.8 million Americans were without health insurance in 2004. That equals 15.7 percent of all Americans, a slight increase from the 15.6 percent that lacked health insurance the year before.
'This is not good news,' Timothy M. Smeeding, a professor at Syracuse University's Maxwell School, told the 'Los Angeles Times' when told about the Census Bureau figures. 'We're four years into a recovery and we're not showing any progress. In fact, quite the opposite.'
'We're not doing a very good job of getting people back to work who've lost good jobs, particularly in manufacturing,' Smeeding added.
Conservative experts tried to say that these numbers would pick up in the coming year and are typical for a recovery. Most others disagreed with that assessment.
'Contrary to the impression that may have been created, this three-year poverty trend is not typical for a recovery,' Robert Greenstein, president of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities explained to the 'Los Angeles Times.' 'If this were a recession year, these would be quite reasonable results. But for the third year of an economic recovery, they have to be branded as quite disappointing.'
