Number of uninsured Americans climbs
New Census data show that in 2006, boththe number and the percentage of Americans who are uninsured hit theirhighest levels since 1999, the first year for which comparable data areavailable, with 2.2 million more Americans — and 600,000 more children— joining the ranks of the uninsured in 2006. Today’s figures also show that while theoverall poverty rate declined slightly (from 12.6 percent to 12.3percent) between 2005 and 2006, the decline was largely concentratedamong the elderly. The poverty rates for children and for working ageadults remained statistically unchanged as compared to 2005, and well above their levels in 2001, when the last recession hit bottomSimilarly, while median income rosemodestly (by 0.7 percent, or $356) for households in general, thismerely brought median income back to where it stood in the 2001recession year. In addition, median income for working-age households — those headed by someone under 65 — remained more than $1,300 below where it stood when the recession hit bottom.