Poverty Level Hit 48-Year High in 2008

This will come as a shock to exactly no one, but according to a new report from the Congressional Research Service, 2.6 million more people were counted as poor in 2008 than in 2007, for a total of 39.8 million people that year. Counting nearly 40 million poor people gives 2008 the uniquely awful distinction of being one of the worst years since a similar number of poor people were counted in 1960.

Additionally, the poverty rate in 2008 was 13.2 percent, up from 12.5 percent in 2007, and the highest rate since 1997. Perhaps most depressing, the report cautions that even though the economy may soon turn around, the poverty rate will likely continue to rise and remain comparably high.

While we're not shocked that things are this rough — we already knew that — the report does a nice job of concisely laying out issues like how geographical differences affect poverty, how seniors are disproportionately affected by poverty, the prevalence of children living in poverty, and the relationship between education, unemployment and disability.

For example, 13.5 million children (18.5 percent) were counted as poor in 2008, up from 1969, when the lowest recorded rate of child poverty was "just" 13.8 percent. The report also notes that unemployed adults, adults who have completed only lower levels of education, those who are unemployed and those who have sustained a work-related injury or disability are especially prone to poverty. The statistics on this are equally are troubling: 34.7 percent of 25 to 34-year-olds without a high school diploma were counted as poor in 2008.

Among the elderly, age 65 and older, 9.7 percent, or 3.7 million people, were counted as poor in 2008. While this isn't a big shift from the previous year, it is worth noting that many older folks live just above the poverty line — at 125 percent of the poverty threshold — making many of the elderly "near poor." In 2008, 15.9 percent of seniors could be considered poor/near poor, including 13.6 percent of adults 65 to 74, and 18.7 percent of adults who are 75 years of age and over.

The study suggests what we already know: that the incredibly flawed poverty measure makes these evaluations equally flawed, and it is written in the hope that the revised poverty line and criteria altered to include contemporary assistance like SNAP benefits and the earned income tax credit/child tax credit will help better determine actual poverty. As the study notes, "the current 'official' poverty measure fails to capture the effects of a variety of programs and policies specifically designed to address income poverty." No kidding.

Photo credit: jamesfischer