HIGHLIGHTS Income • The median household income of the United States declined by 1.0 percent in real terms between 1992 and 1993 falling a total of 7.0 percent since 1989. See table A. • The real median earnings of year-round, full-time workers, 15 years old and over, declined for males and females alike between 1992 and 1993. The ratio of female-to-male earnings was 0.72 in 1993, comparable with the all-time high reached in 1990. See table A. Poverty • The number of persons below the official government poverty level was 39.3 million in 1993, 1.3 million higher than in 1992 and 6.9 million higher than in 1989. See table C. • The poverty rate was 15.1 percent in 1993, not significantly different from the 14.8 percent poverty rate in 1992, but higher than the 1989 figure of 13.1 percent. See table C. Valuation of Noncash Benefits • The use of a fully-adjusted income definition lowers income inequality. Government transfers have a much more significant effect than taxes on redistributing income. See table G. • When the current income measure was modified to exclude government money transfers, the number and percent of persons below the poverty level rose sharply. See table I. • The effect on poverty estimates of adding means-tested cash transfers (primarily AFDC and SSI) was small compared with nonmeans-tested cash transfers (such as Social Security and unemployment compensation). See table I. Acknowledgments Carmen DeNavas and Robert W. Cleveland of the Income Statistics Branch and Eleanor Baugher and Leatha Lamison-White of the Poverty and Wealth Statistics Branch prepared this report. Edward J. Welniak, Jr., Chief of the Income Statistics Branch, and Kathleen S. Short, Chief of the Poverty and Wealth Statistics Branch directed the report preparation. Astrid V. Clarke, Viola S. Hughes, Helen M. Ogle, Bernadette D. Proctor, Rose Mary Schade, Shirley L. Smith, and Jean Tash provided statistical assistance. Susan S. Donohue and Zana Colevas provided word processing assistance. Charles T. Nelson, Assistant Division Chief for Economic Characteristics, Housing and Household Economic Statistics Division, provided overall direction of this report. Susan Gajewski, David Nguyen, and Anh Ly Teitler, Demographic Surveys Division, programmed the detailed tables. Angela Feldman-Harkins, Chief of the Computer Programming and Applications Staff, Ruth Breads, Caroline Carbaugh, Richard Denby, Diana Lewis, and Stacy Massano produced the publication tables. Sampling review was conducted by Denise Lewis, Fred Meier, and Anne C. Peterson of the Demographic Statistical Methods Division. Maria E. Reed and Catherine M. Walker, Demographic Surveys Division, prepared and programmed the computer-assisted interviewing instrument used to conduct the March income supplement. Paula J. Schneider, Chief, Field Division, provided overall direction of field operations. Data collection was conducted by the Bureau of the Census field representatives and telephone interviewers. Without their dedication, the preparation of this report or any report from the Current Population Survey would be impossible. The staff of Administrative and Publications Services Division, Walter C. Odom, Chief, provided publication planning, editorial review, design, composition, and printing planning and procurement. Gail Farren provided publication coordination and editing. Please cut along this line. B Dear user: U.S. Bureau of the Census User Questionnaire In an effort to improve the quality of this report, the following questionnaire has been included for your Reports issued by other government agencies - Please specify organization and report title 4. The following asks two questions about specific sections of the report. Was the section useful to you? (Did it contain information you were looking for?) Was the section easy to understand and use? Please answer each question using the scale provided. Four (4) indicates useful or easy to understand; one (1) indicates not useful or hard to understand. |