New State/Local Data for September 2008

Income, Earnings and Poverty from the 2007 American Community Survey

The US Census Bureau released income, earnings and poverty data from the 2006 and 2007 American Community Surveys (ACS). Note that the ACS is only conducted in places with populations of at least 65,000 individuals and that each estimate has an associated margin of error. In terms of income estimates, Douglas County, Colorado ranked among the top 10 highest counties in the US, with a median income of $92,824 for 2007, compared to Loudoun County, Virginia which was the highest ranking US county at $107,207. 2007 earnings data for Colorado show that the median earnings estimate for men is $46,230 and $36,827 for women, with women’s median earnings representing nearly 80% of men’s median earnings. Both of these estimates are lower than those for the US as a whole ($44,255 for men and $34,278 for women). This report also presents national-level earnings data by race and Hispanic origin, by educational attainment, by industry and class of worker, and by occupation. State-level poverty estimates for Colorado for 2006 and for 2007 are approximately 12% (with a margin of error of +-0.4% for both years). Douglas County had the lowest estimated poverty rate among all US counties containing at least 250,000 people, at 1.8% of its 2007 population (with a 0.6 margin of +-error).

Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2007

The U.S. Census Bureau also released 2007 information on income, poverty and health insurance coverage for the US and all states using data derived from the Annual Social and Economic Supplement (ASEC) to the Current Population Survey (CPS). The Census Bureau’s CPS-ASEC produces the official national estimates of poverty, as well as estimates of income and health insurance coverage. In addition to the national-level data, the report provides state-level health insurance estimates. State and local estimates of income and poverty will be available in the 2007 ACS report.

These data show that real median household income in the United States climbed 1.3% between 2006 and 2007, reaching $50,233. This is the third annual increase in real median household income. Furthermore, the nation’s official poverty rate in 2007 was 12.5%, not statistically different from 2006. There were 37.3 million people in poverty in 2007, up from 36.5 million in 2006. The number of people without health insurance coverage declined from 47 million (15.8%) in 2006 to 45.7 million (15.3%) in 2007. In Colorado, the 2-year average (for 2006-2007) of the number of people without health insurance coverage is estimated at 16.8% of the population (with a margin of error of 1.3%). Texas has the highest estimated percentage of individuals without health insurance coverage, estimated at 23.9% for this time period.

Other national-level results on health insurance coverage:

  • At 11.4% each, the Northeast and the Midwest had lower uninsured rates in 2007 than the West (16.9%) and the South (18.4%). The rates declined from 2006 in every region except for the Midwest, where the change was not statistically significant.
  • The number of uninsured children declined from 8.7 million (11.7%) in 2006 to 8.1 million (11.0%) in 2007.
  • Both the number and percentage of uninsured for non-Hispanic whites decreased in 2007, to 10.4% and 20.5 million, respectively. The number and percentage of uninsured Hispanics decreased from 15.3 million and 34.1% in 2006 to 14.8 million and 32.1% in 2007.

Housing Estimates

Data released by the US Census Bureau provides estimates of housing for all states. These data show that the total estimated number of housing units in Colorado increased by 1.6% from July 1, 2006 to July 1, 2007 to 2,127,156, less than the 2% annual increase estimated for the previous year, but still ranking 15th in the nation in total number of new estimated units (from 2006 to 2007).

One in Five and Growing Fast: A Profile of Hispanic Public School Students

A report released by the Pew Hispanic Center shows that the number of Hispanic students in the nation's public schools nearly doubled from 1990 to 2006, accounting for 60% of the total growth in public school enrollments over that period. Presently, 10 million Hispanic students attend the nation's public schools, 20% of all public school students.

In 2006 Hispanics were about half of all public school students in California, up from 36% in 1990. They were more than 40% of enrollments in three additional states (Arizona, New Mexico and Texas) and between 20% and 40% of all public school students in five states (Nevada, Colorado, Illinois, Florida and New York). Overall, Hispanics are the largest minority group in the public schools in 22 states.

Strong growth in Hispanic enrollment is expected to continue for decades, according to a recently released U.S. Census Bureau population projection. In 2050, there will be more school-age Hispanic children than school-age non-Hispanic white children. Other findings include:

  • The vast majority of Hispanic public school students (84%) were born in the United States.
  • Seven-in-ten (70%) Hispanic students speak a language other than English at home.
  • Nearly one-in-five (18%) of all Hispanic students speak English with difficulty.
  • Nearly three-in-five Hispanic students (57%) live in households with both of their parents compared with 69% of non-Hispanic white students and 30% of non-Hispanic black students.
  • More than seven-in-ten U.S. born Hispanic students of immigrant parents (71%) live with both parents. Smaller shares of foreign-born students (58%) and U.S.-born students of native parentage (48%) reside with both parents.
  • More than a quarter of Hispanic students (28%) live in poverty, compared with 16% of non-Hispanic students. In comparison, more than a third of non-Hispanic black students (35%) reside in poverty and about one-in-ten non-Hispanic white students live in a poor household.
  • Foreign-born Hispanic students (35%) are more likely than their native-born counterparts (27%) to live in poverty.

Hispanics and Healthcare Information

A new report from the Pew Hispanic Center and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation finds that more than one in four Hispanic adults in the United States lack a usual health care provider and a similar proportion report obtaining no health care information from medical professionals in the past year. At the same time, the report finds that more than eight in 10 receive health information from alternative sources, such as television and radio. This includes most of those who get no information from doctors or other medical professionals.

The report is based on a nationally representative bilingual survey of 4,013 Hispanic adults. Other key findings include:

  • As with the general population, Hispanics who are male, young, less educated and without health insurance are least likely to have a usual health care provider.
  • Foreign-born and less-assimilated Latinos - those who mainly speak Spanish, lack U.S. citizenship, or have been in the United States for a short time - are less likely than other Latinos to report that they have a usual place to go for medical treatment or advice.
  • A significant share of Hispanics with no usual place to go for medical care are high school graduates (50%), were born in the United States (30%) and have health insurance (45%).
  • When asked about why they lack a usual provider, a plurality of respondents (41%) say the principal reason is that they are seldom sick.

The Role of the Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP) in Nutritional Assistance to Mothers, Infants, Children and Seniors

Each month, the Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP) provides supplemental food packages to about a half a million low-income pregnant and postpartum women, children younger than 6, and seniors 60 and older. This USDA Economic Research Service study—the first in-depth study of the program since 1982—looks at how CSFP operates, who participates in it, and how it fits into the overall food assistance landscape. The study estimates that 2.9 million mothers, infants, and children meet eligibility requirements for CSFP but not for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). An estimated 7.5 million seniors would be eligible if CSFP were available everywhere. In eight states where the program is widely available, more seniors participate in CSFP than in the Food Stamp Program. Use of volunteers, staff stability, and the small scale of operations contribute to CSFP’s simplicity and accessibility. Focus group participants liked the program’s simplicity, the quality of the food it provides, and the nutrition education they received.

The National School Lunch Program Background, Trends, and Issues

The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) is the nation’s second largest food and nutrition assistance program. In 2006, it operated in over 101,000 public and nonprofit private schools and provided over 28 million low-cost or free lunches to children on a typical school day at a Federal cost of $8 billion for the year. This USDA Economic Research Service report provides background information on the NSLP, including historical trends and participant characteristics. It also addresses steps being taken to meet challenges facing administrators of the program, including tradeoffs between nutritional quality of foods served, costs, and participation, as well as between program access and program integrity.

The Decline in Consumer Use of Food Nutrition Labels, 1995-2006

This USDA Economic Research Service report examines changes in consumers' use of nutrition labels on food packages between 1995-96 and 2005-06. The analysis finds that, although a majority of consumers report using nutrition labels when buying food, use has declined for most label components, including the Nutrition Facts panel and information about calories, fats, cholesterol, and sodium. By contrast, use of fiber information has increased. The decline in label use is particularly marked for the cohort of adults less than 30 years old.

Is Dietary Knowledge Enough? Hunger, Stress and Other Roadblocks to Healthy Eating

Poor diets and rising obesity rates among Americans persist despite increased public awareness of the benefits of a healthy lifestyle. This USDA Economic Research Service report presents a consumer demand model to illustrate how both long-term health objectives and immediate visceral influences—long intervals between meals and eating away from home—can drive individuals’ food choices. The model predicts that cognitive dietary information will have less influence on food choices in the face of immediate visceral factors. Using data from the 1994-1996 Continuing Survey of Food Intake by Individuals and the companion Diet Health and Knowledge Survey, the analysis finds that when individuals extend the period between meals or consume more of their food away from home, they are significantly more likely to consume more calories and lower their diet quality.