Median income hit record high in 2018 as poverty declined

The median income of US households reached a record $ 63,200 in 2018, data back to 1967, revealed new data released Tuesday by the Census Bureau.

The official poverty rate has also reached its lowest level since at least 2001, falling to 11.8% of Americans, or 38.1 million people living in poverty, according to Census Bureau measures. The number of people living in poverty in 2018 has decreased by 1.4 million people compared to 2017.

Between 2014 and 2018, the official poverty rate experienced the greatest improvement over four years.

With significant improvements in median income and poverty achieved in 2015-17, 2018 has not been a particularly unusual year in terms of trends in economic growth.

It represents the cumulative effort of the economic recovery that began in 2009, which included many years of significant income gains and a decline in poverty.

In 2015, for example, the poverty rate fell from 14.8% to 13.5%, more than any other year since 1969. The median household income also rose record-breaking in 2015, with data dating back to 1967 .

The Census Bureau has also released figures on the supplementary measure of poverty, which goes beyond the official measure of poverty by showing the impact of various government programs on exceeding the poverty line. The rate of the supplementary measure of poverty in 2018 was 13.1%, which is not statistically different from the 2017 rate, which was 13%.

The supplementary measure of poverty indicates the number of people who have crossed the poverty line through government programs, such as additional security income for the elderly and poor people with disabilities, and temporary assistance for needy families. very low income families with children and the SNAP program call food stamps). In 2018, the additional security income raised 2.9 million people above the poverty line, while the SNAP and temporary assistance enabled 3.1 million and 0.4 million people to out of poverty, respectively.

President Trump's 2020 Budget proposes to significantly reduce the number of low-income assistance programs, including Supplementary Security Supplement, Temporary Assistance and SNAP, as well as significant reductions in health insurance . It is highly unlikely that the president's budget will be adopted this year or in 2020, but it reflects his priorities for the years to come.