U.S. Poverty on the Rise, According to Census Bureau

Interview with Scott Klinger, co-director of United for a Fair Economy's Responsible Wealth Project, conducted by Scott Harris

While the Republican National Convention in New York City was underway last week, the U.S. Census Bureau reported that the number of Americans living in poverty increased by 1.3 million in 2003, while the numbers of citizens without health insurance grew by 1.4 million. Alarmingly, children were among the hardest hit segments of the population with an increase of about 800,000 living in poverty during 2003. In all, almost 13 million of those under the age of 18 now live below the poverty line. Nearly 45 million, or 15.6 percent of Americans do not have health insurance. This was the third consecutive rise in these numbers from the Census Bureau, which indicate growing income inequality.

Critics of the Bush administration accused the Census Bureau of releasing the data earlier than usual to diminish the impact on the November election, a charge denied by Census director Louis Kincannon, a Bush appointee. The Bureau's statistics could be important in this presidential election year, serving to focus public attention on the failure of President Bush's economic policies. During Bush's administration, 4.3 million Americans have slipped into poverty and 5.2 million have lost their health insurance coverage.

Between The Lines' Scott Harris spoke with Scott Klinger, co-director of United for A Fair Economy's Responsible Wealth Project, about the Census data and his own group's study of the rise in salaries of CEOs whose companies outsource U.S. jobs overseas.

Contact United for A Fair Economy's at (617) 423-2148 or visit their website at www.faireconomy.org

Related links:

"Executive Excess" Report: CEO Pay Soars at Companies That Send Jobs Overseas United for a Fair Economy, Aug. 31, 2004

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