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As George W. Bush and John F. Kerry debate who will do the most to benefit the middle class, recently-released Census Bureau statistics show that poverty decreased among African-Americans during the Clinton Administration, but went back up during the first three years of the Bush administration. In addition to the increase in poverty, overall Census Bureau figures show that the number of uninsured Americans rose to 45 million in 2003, up 1.4 million from 2002 when 43.6 million Americans were uninsured. In 2000, the year Bush was elected, 39.8 million were uninsured. "The year 2003 marked the third straight year that living standards have deteriorated, with poverty increasing, the number of uninsured climbing, and the income of the typical household stagnating," says Robert Greenstein, executive director of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

"Poverty level" as defined by the Federal government means any individual earning less than $9,573 per year or a family of four earning less than $18,660 a year.

According to Census tables, the percentage of African-Americans living below the poverty level was 33.4 percent (10.8 million) in 1992, the year Clinton was first elected president. By 2000, the year Bush was elected, that figure had dropped to 22.5 percent (7.9 million) -- a decrease of 10.9 percent.
From 2000, however, the Black poverty rate increased from 22.5 percent to 23.9 percent in 2002 and 24.3 percent in 2003 (9.1 million).
Overall, the number and percentage of people living below the poverty line rose for the third conservative year. The poverty rate -- the percentage of people who are poor -- rose from 11.7 percent in 2001, to 12.1 percent in 2002 and 12.5 percent in 2003, according to the Census Bureau. [more ] and [more ]
Also see a new study conducted by UCLA: UCLA Study Projects Uncertain Future for African American Progress Despite Past Gains [more ]
Employment Picture Dim For Minority Youth [more ]