News Tip: Welfare Alone Does Not Protect Those Below the Poverty Line
Slow economic growth and flat wages helped contribute to the latest increase in the number of Americans living below the poverty line, Duke poverty expert says
Wednesday, September 3, 2003
The latest figures showing an increase in the number of Americans living below the poverty line should come as no surprise, says a Duke University professor.
A Census Bureau report released Tuesday indicated that an additional 1.3 million people lived below the poverty line in 2002, when compared with the previous year.
"I am not surprised," says Christina Gibson, an assistant professor of public policy studies in Duke's Terry Sanford Institute of Public Policy. "Economic growth wasn't that strong, and wages remained flat for those at the bottom of the income distribution."
Gibson, whose expertise is in evaluation of the effects of anti-poverty programs on families and children, says the latest figures "show that welfare by itself does not inoculate those at the bottom from the larger economy."
The increase hit individuals and families alike, the Census Bureau report indicated. The total percentage of people in poverty increased to 12.4 percent in 2002 (up from 12.1 percent in 2001) and totaled 34.8 million. At the same time, the number of families living in poverty was 7 million in 2002, up by more than 300,000 from 6.6 million in 2001.
Gibson can be reached for additional comment at (919) 613-7364 or by email at cgibson@pps.duke.edu.
