U.S.

Poverty Level Lowest In 21 Years

September 26, 2000 / 3:39 PM EDT / AP

The nation's poverty rate dropped to 11.8 percent in 1999, the lowest since 1979, while median household incomes reached a record high, according to new Census Bureau data released Tuesday.

There were 32.2 million people living in poverty in 1999, 2.2 million fewer than the year before, according to the agency's annual report on income and poverty. The overall poverty rate in 1998 was 12.7 percent.

In addition, 16.9 percent of the nation's children were in poverty, also the lowest since 1979.

Democrats and Republicans were quick to take credit for the good news.

"This is a good day for America," President Clinton said, calling attention to the poverty figures six weeks before the election. "We have proved that we can lift all boats in a modern, global, information-based economy."

Clinton spoke before about 100 staff members of the Office of Management and Budget and the Council of Economic Advisers after the Census Bureau released its report. The president called it "another economic milestone" for the Clinton-Gore administration.

"These exciting developments are the direct result of the welfare reform law Republicans wrote and finally pushed into law in 1996," said Rep. Clay Shaw, R-Fla., a member of the House Ways and Means Committee. He said that without welfare reform, there would be "more children in poverty and more adults getting a welfare check instead of a paycheck."

Every racial and ethnic group experienced a drop in both the number of poor and the percent in poverty, as did children, the elderly and people ages 25 to 44, said Census Bureau analyst Daniel Weinberg.

"Declines in poverty were concentrated in metropolitan areas, particularly central cities. And, on the income side, this was the fifth consecutive year that households experienced a real annual increase in income," Weinberg said.

Accounting for inflation the median income level for the nation's households rose 2.7 percent from $39,744 in 1998 to a record-high of $40,816 last year. The average poverty threshold for a family of four in 1999, also accounting for inflation, was $17,029; for a family of three, it was $13,290.

Except for whites, the poverty rate for the nation's major racial and ethnic groups set or equaled historic lows, the Census Bureau said:

African-Americans, 23.6 percent

Hispanics, 22.8 percent

Asian and Pacific Islanders, 10.7 percent

Non-Hispanic Whites, 7.7 percent

Based on comparisons of two-year averages (1998-1999 and 1997-1998), the Census Bureau said no state showed a significant increase in poverty rates, while the District of Columbia and seven states Arizona, Arkansas, California, New York, South Dakota, Utah, Virginia showed decreases in poverty rates.

Income levels for the major racial and ethnic groups also increased:

African-Americans, $27,910.

Hispanics, $30,735.

Asian and Pacific Islanders, $51,205.

non-Hispanic Whites, $44,366

Also, the median household income was up in 1999 in the Midwest ($42,679) and South ($37,422), but was statistically unchanged from 1998 in the Northeast ($41,984) and West ($42,720).