WAMU 88.5 : News

Filed Under:

Census: D.C. Has Third-Highest Poverty Rate

By: Elliott Francis // September 13, 2011
Play associated audio
comments
Poverty is more endemic than ever before, and D.C. owns the third-highest rate of poverty in the country.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mmmswan/6144074859/
Poverty is more endemic than ever before, and D.C. owns the third-highest rate of poverty in the country.

The rate of poverty in the U.S has climbed to its highest level in more than 20 years, according to numbers released by the Census Bureau on Tuesday.

According to the report, the poverty rate in the country rose to 15.1 percent. That’s 46 million people in the U.S. living at or below the poverty line. It’s also the largest total number since the bureau started tracking poverty in 1959.

Even worse, the poverty rate in D.C. ranks third in the nation at 19.9 percent, behind only Mississippi and Louisiana.

Bill Shore, Director of Share our Strength -- a non-profit dedicated to ending poverty -- says it might be a sign of trouble.

“I think the D.C. region has been hit even harder than the national average," says Shore. "We’re up to 29 percent -- that's a very significant number. We've almost got to a tipping point where we’ve got to make sure that, even if you can’t create more jobs, at least the safety net is strong.”

Figures also show the number of people without healthcare coverage grew over the previous year.

Related Links

Arts & Culture

NPR

Dan Brown: 'Inferno' Is 'The Book That I Would Want To Read'

Dan Brown, author of the blockbuster The Da Vinci Code, is back with his first novel in four years. Inferno follows academic hero Robert Langdon on a chase through Italy as he attempts to avert a biological catastrophe.

Food

NPR

'Picture Cook': Drawings Are The Key Ingredients In These Recipes

Designer Katie Shelly's upcoming cookbook offers 50 illustrated recipe "blueprints" for basic meals — from simple snacks to more hefty dishes like eggplant Parmesan. She hopes they'll inspire any level of cook to improvise in the kitchen.

Politics

NPR

Nonconservative Groups Say IRS Scrutinized Them, Too

The IRS has admitted it flagged tax-exemption requests from groups with "tea party" or "patriot" in their names starting in 2010. But some liberal groups and journalism organizations say their applications also faced long delays during the same period.

Technology

NPR

Book News: Amazon May Be Called Before Parliament Over Taxes

Also: AARP and The Nation join a growing list of ebook publishers; Hilary Mantel on Jane Austen; Anne Applebaum on Sheryl Sandberg.

Leave a Comment

Help keep the conversation civil. Please refer to our Terms of Use and Code of Conduct before posting your comments.