Tag Archives: analysts

U.S. Poverty Rate Levels Off in New Report: UMD Expert

COLLEGE PARK, Md. – Newly released U.S. Census figures show the poverty rate essentially leveled in 2011 – beating the expectations of many experts who had predicted a fifth straight increase, says Professor Douglas Besharov, an expert on poverty and welfare at the University of Maryland School of Public Policy.

According to the new figures, the overall poverty rate for 2011 was 15 percent, a statistically insignificant drop from the 15.1 percent the year before, says Besharov, who directs the school’s Welfare Reform Academy. The number broke a trend in which the poverty rate had risen 27.1 percent since 2006. In 2011, roughly 46.2 million people remained below the poverty line. (more…)

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