Press Release
August 28, 2007
Contact: Susan Duerksen, (619) 804-1950 or (619) 584-5744
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Economic Growth Leaves Working People
and Families Behind
Real earnings down for San DiegoCounty
workers,
new Census data shows
In real
dollars, full-time workers in San
DiegoCounty
made significantly less in 2006 than the previous year, according to data
released today by the U.S. Census Bureau.Over 100,000 workers in the county live in poverty.
While workers’
earnings dropped by an inflation-adjusted average of 4%, the median household
income rose slightly.The median -- the
halfway mark among all household incomes -- was pulled up by more people
working and higher incomes among the wealthy.
The new data shows a wide
gap in income distribution between rich and poor, with the top 20% of
households claiming half (49%) of all income in the county while households in
the lowest-earning fifth of the population got less than a 4% sliver of the
pie.
The Census
Bureau released its 2006 national report on income and poverty today.The Center on Policy Initiatives, a San Diego
research and advocacy organization, analyzed regional data from the report to
develop a picture of poverty and income in San Diego County.The full CPI analysis is available at www.onlineCPI.org.
"These
data show again that benefits of economic growth are not shared fairly with the
working people who create the growth," said Donald Cohen, CPI Executive
Director. "Too many working people and their families aren't being paid
enough to cover basic expenses."
There were
331,370 people living below the federal poverty line in the county in 2006, a
poverty rate of 11.7%.That put the county
very close to national poverty rate of 12.3%, using a static measurement that does
not take into account differences in the cost of living.
The Census
data provide a more complete picture of poverty than the county’s 2005 rate of 11%,
because the 2006 Census report for the first time included residents of group
quarters such as dormitories, military barracks, and nursing homes.
National analysis of the data is also available from the
Economic Policy Institute in Washington,
at (202) 775-8810or news@epi.org.
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