Poverty is declining in America. According to the Census Bureau’s annual report on income and poverty, the official U.S. poverty rate declined in 2013 for the first time since 2006, falling from 15 percent to 14.5 percent. Better full-time employment opportunities helped lift many out of poverty according to analyst Ilir Hysa.
Despite the progress in alleviating poverty last year, the poverty rate remains 2 percentage points higher than it was in 2007 while median housing income is still 8 percent lower. In 2013, the U.S. experienced modest declines in poverty rates for men, women and children. Children are still disproportionately poor, representing less than 24 percent of total population but nearly a third of those in poverty. But for children in households headed by married couples, the poverty rate declined to 9.5 percent in 2013 from 11.1 percent in 2012.
Children living in female-headed households are much more likely to be in poverty, with a rate approaching 46 percent in 2013. For children under the age of 6 living in female headed households, the poverty rate approaches 60 percent. According to Moody’s Analytics, Hispanics were the only ethnic group to experience a significant decline in poverty in 2013.
