The Bottom Line On Those Poverty Numbers

Q: The U.S. Census Bureau last week released twin reports showing a rise in U.S. poverty. Was this a surprise?
A: On one level, no. One study showed a .4% increase in the number of impoverished Americans in 2001 over the year before, the first rise since 1993. The second recorded a 2.2% decrease in the median U.S. income, to $42,228. Hardly surprising. When there's a recession, people lose jobs, and incomes fall. But behind the numbers were some peculiarities that show how the country has changed and how it hasn't. The reports show an increase in the number of non-Hispanic whites, Southerners and suburbanites living below the poverty line, while the number of poor African Americans has held steady, though high, at 22.7%.

Q: Why were some suburbanites harder hit?
A: The decay that was common in urban areas a generation ago, some experts say, has begun spreading to nearby suburbs. Others note that more big companies are relocating to the suburbs from expensive city centers, drawing more people with borderline incomes.

Q: How do these reports together reveal the big picture?
A: In places, the reports fit together like jigsaw puzzles. For example, Michigan had a larger than average decrease in median income, yet had fewer people below the poverty line. Frank Stafford, a University of Michigan economist, explains that workers in that state's high-tech sector took a disproportionately serious hit. That would tend to affect those in middle-income brackets more than low-income workers.

Q: How bad is the news?
A: The most frustrating observation is that after almost 20 years of booming growth, the percentage of poor people isn't any lower than it was in the 1970s. The 1990s brought dramatic improvements, particularly for African Americans, but also saw a widening gap between richest and poorest. "Having the economy going again isn't enough," says Michigan professor Sheldon Danziger. "To me the puzzle is that there isn't any discussion of this."