Scott Statement on 2015 Census Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Data
WASHINGTON – Ranking Member Bobby Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement today on the 2015 Census Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Data:
“Today’s Census Bureau report shows that median household income is rising and the number of people living in poverty is falling. When President Obama took office in 2009, the nation was in the midst of a severe recession. The President and his Administration took swift action by making key investments to stimulate the economy. Nearly eight years later, today’s report is proof that these measures worked and proof of the resilience of the American people and their hard work.
“From 2014 to 2015, real median household income grew 5.2 percent, the fastest annual growth on record. This means families had more money in their paychecks to put toward rent, child care costs, college tuition, and care for aging loved ones. The report also shows that the percentage of Americans with incomes below the poverty line fell from 14.8 percent to 13.5 percent, the largest one-year drop since 1968. And, the uninsured rate fell sharply in 2015—the fifth straight year the uninsured rate has fallen since the Affordable Care Act’s enactment.
“While we celebrate this progress, we must commit to making meaningful investments in our nation’s families and in our economy that will ensure that our growing prosperity is broadly shared. With only a very limited number of days left in this Congress, I am calling on my colleagues across the aisle to join with House Democrats in pursuing an agenda that will restore the basic bargain that if you are willing to work hard, you do not have to live in poverty.”
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