While Americans living in poverty fell to 12.3% of the population in 2006, from 12.6%, income gains for low- and middle-income workers were flat or down despite low unemployment, according to the Census Bureau's Income, Poverty and Health Insurance Census report released Tuesday. The top 20% of U.S. households earned a full 50.5% of pretax income in 2006, while the bottom 60% captured only 26.5%. Twenty years ago their income shares were 46.2% and 29.5% respectively. The steady shift accents what some see as a trend of global income inequality. Median household income increased for the second year, by 0.7% to $48,200, but is still a distance from 1999's $49,244 peak. Furthermore, full-time workers saw their inflation-adjusted incomes drop for the third straight year, down 1.1% to $42,261 for males, and down 1.2% to $32,515 for females. Americans without a health plan also increased, the report said, by 5% to 15.8% of the population, or 47 million people (full story). "Too many lower- and middle-income Americans are not sharing in the gains," said Robert Greenstein of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities think tank.
Sources: Press release, Wall Street Journal
Commentary: Consumer Confidence Down Sharply in August • Paulson Remains Confident Economy Will Not Enter Recession
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