African American and Hispanic Children More Likely to Live in Poverty Under Bush

Yesterday, the U.S. Census Bureau released its annual data on the numbers of Americans who are living in poverty and are uninsured. One year after President Bush made his speech in New Orleans' famous Jackson Square, promising to work to combat poverty in this country, the U.S. Census numbers reflect just how dire the situation has become under his leadership. In 2005, more than 37 million Americans, about 12.6 percent of the population, were living under the poverty line. [ABC News.com 8-29-06] Based on that figure almost 60 percent of those living in poverty are Hispanics and African Americans.

According to the Census, one in three individuals living in severe poverty are children. Minorities fared even worse, with children making up 50 percent of African Americans and Hispanics living in poverty. [UPI, 8/29/06] Additionally distressing is the fact that the number of uninsured Hispanics and African Americans has dramatically increased under President Bush.

The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina shed light on the persistent poverty that exists in America and that continues to disproportionately affect people of color. Throughout the Bush Presidency, the Administration has ignored the problem while the Bush Republicans in Congress have played politics on important issues like raising the minimum wage, affordable health care and education and small business funding.

"It is shameful that in the richest country in the world, so many Americans, especially our children, are living in poverty and that minority children remain disproportionately affected," said Democratic National Committee spokesperson Amaya Smith. "Democrats have worked to increase community development, improve public education, provide affordable health care and increase funding for small businesses. Instead of continuing to offer hollow rhetoric on outreach to African Americans and Hispanics, Republicans should join Democrats in addressing the problems facing hard working Americans through raising the minimum wage and lowering health care costs."

African Americans And Latinos Are More Likely to Be Uninsured Than Whites. African Americans and Hispanics have a significantly higher rate of uninsurance than the rest of the population. In 2005, 14.1 million Latinos were without health insurance, increasing by 2.2 million since 2000. In 2005, the number of African Americans without health insurance was 7.5 million - increasing by 795,000 people since 2000. [U.S. Census Bureau, 8/29/06]

Disproportionately High Number of African Americans and Latinos Live in Poverty. Approximately 25 percent of all African Americans (9.5 million) lived in poverty in 2005, an increase of 1.5 million since the beginning of the Bush Administration. About 22 percent (9.4 million) of Latinos lived in poverty, an increase of 1.6 million since the beginning of the Bush Administration. [U.S. Census Bureau, 8/30/05; Table B-1]