Family income in the United States increased in the past year, but the number of poor children also increased and the overall poverty rate was unchanged, the Census Bureau said Tuesday. ( dpa )
Median household income climbed 1.3 per cent between 2006 to 2007 to reach 50,233 dollars, a new report by the bureau said. The poverty rate in 2007 was 12.5 per cent, not significantly altered from 12.3 per cent in 2006.
Hispanics and black households reported the lowest median income last year, at 33,916 dollars, while Asian households had the highest median income at 66,103 dollars.
A family of four was defined as poor if it had an annual income of less than 21,203 dollars. An estimated 21.5 per cent of Hispanics were living in poverty, up from 20.6 per cent in 2006, the report said.
Poverty rates remained the same for non-Hispanic whites (8.2 per cent), blacks (24.5 per cent) and Asians (10.2 per cent) in 2007.
There were marked variations based on age, with more poor people over 65 - 3.6 million in 2007, as compared with 3.4 million in 2006. The numbers jumped for children below 18, from 12.8 million in 2006 to 13.3 million the following year.