Economists: Poverty like rose in 2003

[Epitome22]

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor...y_poverty_dc_1


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - More Americans likely slid into poverty in 2003 and the gap between the rich and poor widened, economists said on Thursday in a report that could fuel Democrat criticism of President Bush (news - web sites).



While the nation's official poverty rate will not be released until next week, the left-leaning Center for Economic and Policy Research estimated 700,000 Americans were added to the ranks of the poor last year, based on early numbers.


That takes the number of poor in the United States to about 36.4 million, from 35.7 million in 2002.


The poverty line is set at an annual income of $9,573 or less for an individual, or $18,660 for a family of four with two children, according to the Census Bureau (news - web sites).


Using Census Bureau data for the first half of 2003, economist Heather Boushey said the percentage of the U.S. population living in poverty rose to 12.8 percent, up from 12.7 percent in the first half of 2002.


Children were even more likely to be poor, the study showed, with poverty rising to 18.8 percent of children in 2003 from 18.6 percent in 2002.


The poverty rate tends to track the overall economy, rising during a recession and falling in boom times. It has increased each year since 2000, sparking criticism from Democrats that Bush's economic policies are skewed to benefit the rich.


But Bush's economic team has argued he inherited the 2001 recession from former President Bill Clinton (news - web sites), a Democrat, and that three rounds of tax cuts have since spurred the economy's recovery and kick-started job growth.


The official poverty rate is set for release on Aug. 26. Boushey said it will likely be slightly different than her calculation because it will include a full 12 months of data and is taken from a separate but similar Census survey.


In past years, there has been only a slight gap between six months of one survey and a full year of the second.


The study also showed the median household income rose 3.6 percent to $48,216 in the first half of 2003 from the same period in 2002 -- though when inflation is taken into account, incomes rose a smaller 1.1 percent.


Together with the rising poverty rate, the increase in the median household income suggests the gap between rich and poor is widening, Boushey said.


"Families above the average are seeing an increase (in income), but the families at the bottom are seeing a drop," she told journalists.


The report also found the number of Americans with health care coverage likely fell in 2003 for the third year in a row, as unemployment grew and employers cut back on health benefits.