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A new Pew Research Center interactive calculator helps you determine the level of income you belong to.
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Americans' incomes are rising and a declining share of households is being lifted into poverty.

Household income rose for the third year in a row in 2017, but at a slower pace. And poverty has declined slightly, a sign that the healthy economy is raising Americans across the spectrum.

The median household income rose 1.8% to hit a record high of $ 61,372, the US Census Bureau said Wednesday, as the largest gains were recorded in the West and Midwest . This follows the advances of 5.2% in 2015 and 3.2% in 2016.

Household incomes include, among others, bonuses, social security, public assistance payments and interest and dividends from investments.

Trudi Renwick, Deputy Chief of the Office's Income Statistics Division, explains to a large extent to the increase in earnings that more part-time workers have found full-time employment in an improving labor market .

Elise Gould, Senior Economist at the Left Economic Policy Institute, finds that most families have barely made up for stunting over the past decade.

The report on household earnings in the first year of President Donald Trump's term comes as Trump's tax cuts increase after-tax income for most Americans, but especially for the rich. The president has also taken steps to allow states to impose working conditions on low-income households receiving Medicaid, food vouchers and housing subsidies.

The economy continued to improve last year after the recession between 2007 and 2009, with the unemployment rate falling to 4.1% in December, after peaking at 10% in 2009. currently at 3.9%.

The number of Americans living in poverty remained unchanged at 39.7 million, but the poverty rate rose from 12.7% in 2016 to 12.3%, the third consecutive annual decline. Since 2014, the rate has increased from 14.8%, according to the census report.

The share of 12.3% of people in poverty remains, however, higher than that of 11.3% in 2008, notes Gould.

Those with at least a bachelor's degree were the only group to have experienced a growing share of poverty, even though they still had the lowest poverty rate at 4.5%.

Advocates of the poor complain that there are still too many people living in poverty and that the federal government has not done enough to strengthen the safety net.

"Millions of people are suffering from poverty and wealth as we continue to provide unnecessary tax cuts to the rich," said William Barber, co-chair of the Poor's Campaign, Wednesday at the conference. ;a phonecall.

Barber criticized Trump's administration policies, which he said hurt the poor, including cutting down on business regulation and access to affordable health care.

There were 28.5 million Americans without health insurance in 2017, or 8.8% of the population, a figure unchanged from 2016. The number of uninsured Americans had dropped steadily at previous years.

More: Are you the middle class? This calculator from Pew Research Center is meant to tell you

More: Here is the cost of living in the most expensive cities of America

Although the median income reached $ 61,000 for the first time, census officials noted that the agency had changed the way it collected data in 2013 and that this figure does not differ statistically from the median income in 2013. 1999 or 2007.

Among racial groups, income rose 2.6% for white households to $ 68,145 and 3.7% for Hispanics at $ 50,486. Income remained unchanged for Asians at $ 81,331 and for Blacks at $ 40,258.

While overall income rose last year, the snapshot of wages was mixed. Inflation-adjusted median earnings for men increased 3% to $ 44,408, while women's median earnings remained at $ 31,600.

And men and women working full-time and year-round saw their median inflation-adjusted earnings fall by 1.1% to $ 52,146 and $ 41,977 respectively. This is largely because part-time workers who have recently landed full-time jobs have started at the bottom of the scale, narrowing the median, says Jonathan Rothbaum, chief of income statistics for the United States. census. The number of men and women working full time increased by 1.4 million and 1 million respectively.

Inequality of income is aggravated. Americans from the 80th to the 95th percentile of income (who gained more than 80% and up to 95% of all households) saw their incomes rise from 2.6% to 3%, the highest among all groups. Americans in the 40th percentile middle class posted 1.1% earnings gains, while those in the 60th percentile posted increases of 1.4%.

The West, home to thriving technology hubs such as California's Silicon Valley, recorded the largest gains, with revenues rising 2.8% to $ 67,517. Revenue increased 2.6% in the Midwest to $ 61,136; 1.3 percent in the south at $ 55,079; and 1% in the northeast at $ 66,450.

Contributor: Deborah Berry

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Reverend Martin Luther King did not live in 1968 to see the campaign of his poor people. Reverend Jesse Jackson and Appalachian activist Alan McSurely took King's baton, and they are part of the new campaign 50 years later. (August 27)
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