By Jason Ajiake, News Staff Columnist
Posted 5:45 PM EST, Wed., Sept. 14, 2016
The recent report from the U.S. Census Bureau shows that American families have been making notary progress toward recovery as the median household income has grown from 2014-2015.
According to the Census Bureau, middle-class and poor Americans experienced a historical economic growth rate in 2015. The median household income increased by 5.2 percent and the poverty rate decreased by 1.2 percentage points, a shift that hasn’t happened since the 1960’s.
Many believe the growth to stem from higher wages, minimal inflation, and a flourishing job market.
“The highest income growth was in the bottom fifth of workers, which is very welcome news,” said Lawrence Mishel, president of the Economic Policy Institute in Washington, D.C.
While the sudden growth has contributed towards improving the negative effects of the Great Recession, the median household income still remains 1.6 percent lower than it was before the economic collapse.
Harry Holzer, former Clinton administration chief economist at the Labor Department, believes that the middle class and poor Americans will continue to see growth temporarily, but it’s unlikely to be permanent.
“I would expect at least another year or two of very healthy increases, and then maybe things will moderate some. But you’ll have some momentum into 2016 and beyond,” Holzer said . “Then you will see some flattening. And the question is, when the flattening occurs, where will we be? That will be the real question.”
According to the Council of Economic Advisors, the number of impoverished people have dropped by 3.5 million, which has leveraged the poverty rate to fall from 14.8 percent to 13.5 percent. This is the country’s largest one-year drop since 1968.
Every state has seen declines in its uninsured rate since 2013, which signifies a major coverage provision of the Affordable Care Act. Women working full-time have also seen an increased income of 80 percent when compared to men who make full-year earnings and work full time. As well as solid employment growth and real, robus wages, this year suggests that income is continuing to rise in 2016.
The President will continue to call on Congress to invest in job creation, wage growth, and equal pay for equal work.
