Hoyer, Lee: Census Report Shows the Recovery is Taking Hold for Americans Across the Economic Spectrum

“Today’s report by the U.S. Census Bureau demonstrates that our economy is not only experiencing recovery but that the recovery is taking hold for Americans across the economic spectrum.  In three key economic indicators – median income, the poverty rate, and the uninsured rate – we see major improvement, attesting not only to the resilience of American workers and entrepreneurs but also to the success of the recovery policies enacted at the height of the recession.  Today’s report showed that median incomes rose for every quintile of Americans, including a 6.56% increase for the bottom fifth of earners – a faster rise in incomes for the poorest 20% than for the highest 20% of earners.  The report also showed the poverty rate having fallen to 13.5 percent, with 3.5 million Americans rising above the poverty line.  Numbers such as these indicate a narrowing of the gap between those at the top and those at the bottom, which is one of the keys to winning the war on poverty and growing the middle class.  And thanks to the Affordable Care Act, the number of Americans without health insurance continued to fall, dropping by another 4 million last year, and the uninsured rate is at an all-time low of just 9.1%. 

“In spite of all these positive indicators, which constitute further evidence that our economy performs better under Democratic leadership, House Republicans continue to insist on budgets and policies that disinvest in economic growth and anti-poverty efforts.  They continue to target the most vulnerable to bear the heaviest burden of deficit reduction, all the while promoting unpaid-for tax cuts – as they are doing again this week – that would balloon our deficits and debt and make it harder to attract the kind of private investment that creates good jobs and grows our middle class.  House Democrats will keep fighting for sound fiscal and budgetary policies that invest in a stronger economic future and enable all of our people to make it in America.”