(Given the aftermath of Katrina, I hesitate to post anything non-disaster-relief related. However, the Census Bureau's annual report tells a story that affects hundreds of millions of Americans. That story will be told in tomorrow's papers -- albeit behind the more pressing news about Katrina -- and it is important that the story be told accurately.)
Earlier today, I observed that the initial press coverage of the Census Bureau's report on income, poverty, and health coverage failed to recognize that the troubling news is not limited to poverty.
The New York Times, however, grasps the bigger picture:
The main theme of the Census report seemed to be the surprising weakness in the labor market for people with jobs, even as the ranks of the unemployed have dwindled. Fewer people are getting health insurance from their employer or from a family member's employer, while pay raises have generally trailed inflation.
More excerpts:
Income Stagnated and Poverty Rose in 2004, Census Figures Show
By DAVID LEONHARDT
Even as the economy was growing, income stagnated last year and the poverty rate rose, the Census Bureau reported today. This is the first time on record that household income has failed to increase for five straight years.
The portion of Americans without health insurance remained roughly steady at 16 percent, according to the bureau. A smaller percentage of people were covered by their employers, but two big government programs, Medicaid and military insurance, grew. . . .
The Census Bureau's annual report card on the nation's economic well-being showed that the economic expansion of the last few years had still not done much to benefit many households. Median pretax household income, at $44,389 last year, was at its lowest point since 1997, after accounting for inflation. . . .
Last year, households kept their income from falling by working more hours than they had in 2003, the Census data showed. The median pay of full-time male workers declined more than 2 percent, to $40,800; for women, the median dropped 1 percent, to $31,200. . . .
"It looks like the gains from the recovery haven't really filtered down," said Phillip L. Swagel, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington. "The gains have gone to owners of capital and not to workers."
Reaction from Congressional Democrats can be found here. Among other things, they note:
Since 2000 the median earnings of full-time, full-year working women declined by 2.3 percent (falling from $31,944 to 31,223 in 2004 dollars) and the median earnings of full-time, full-year working men declined by 4.4 percent (falling from $42,658 to $40,798 in 2004 dollars).