U.S. Poverty Levels Fall To Pre-Recession Low

The U.S. Census Bureau has published a report into income and poverty levels across the United States, finding that median household income in 2018 was $63,179 while median earnings for all workers was $40,247. Poverty has now fallen for the fourth consecutive year, thanks to the healthy state of the economy and it has hit pre-recession lows. In 2018, the official U.S. poverty rate was 11.8 percent, a reduction of 0.5 percentage points from the 12.3 percent recorded a year previously. Poverty levels are now significantly lower than in 2007, just before the financial crisis and the most recent U.S. recession.

The 2018 data shows that poverty rates for children fell 1.2 percentage points to 16.2 percent while it remained at a steady 9.7 percent among over 65s. Back in 1959, the national poverty rate was 22.4 percent and it has decreased significantly in the years, although there was some notable fluctuation in the mid-1980s and 1990s. Even though the return to the pre-recession low is positive, 11.8 percent means that some 38.1 million Americans are still living in poverty. Amid warnings of a fresh U.S. recession lying just around the corner, the current downward tend might only be temporary.