Number and Percentage of Americans Who Are Uninsured Climbs Again: Poverty Edges Down but Remains Higher, and Median Income for Working-Age Households Remains Lower, than When Recession Hit Bottom in 2001

Publication Date: August 2007

Publisher: Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (Washington, D.C.)

Author(s):

Research Area: Health

Keywords: Economic projections; Health insurance; Economic inequality

Type: Report

Abstract:

New Census data show that in 2006, both the number and the percentage of Americans who are uninsured hit their highest levels since 1999, the first year for which comparable data are available, with 2.2 million more Americans — and 600,000 more children — joining the ranks of the uninsured in 2006. The new Census figures also show that while the overall poverty rate declined slightly (from 12.6 percent to 12.3 percent) between 2005 and 2006, the decline was largely concentrated among the elderly. The poverty rates for children and for working age adults remained statistically unchanged as compared to 2005, and well above their levels in 2001, when the last recession hit bottom.