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13 Sep 2011 10:49

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U.S.: U.S. poverty rate: Nearly one in seven people live in poverty

  • 15.1% the poverty rate in the U.S. back in 1993 — the highest level in 20 years
  • 11.3% the poverty rate in 2000 — the lowest it’s been in the modern era
  • 15.1% the poverty rate in 2010 — MATCHING the 1993 high source
  • » What these numbers mean: The current poverty line in the U.S. is $22,314 a year for a family of four and $11,139 for an individual, so anyone making less than that falls into these numbers. To put this into hard numbers, that means 46.2 million people are living below the poverty line. As for the middle class, their median income is $49,445 — actually down just a little bit from the year before. (Editor’s note: We just clarified the poverty line numbers.)
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

28 Apr 2011 13:15

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World: Census shows a disporportionately elderly Chinese population

  • 13.3% of Chinese citizens are over 60, a 3% rise over the last decade, and a bad sign for the government — it’s hard to run a manufacturing economy with such an aged population
  • 16.6% of Chinese citizens are under 14, outpacing the elderly in the strictest sense, but in reality a very worrisome sign for China’s long-term economic and societal health source
  • » And the youth of China knows it, too: Said Zheng Aiwen, a 22-year-old student: “As soon as I saw the census results, I thought I have to hurry up and get married and have children, two if possible. I am quite worried about the economic pressure of caring for my parents and also about not being supported myself in my old age.” Despite this worrisome trend, the Chinese government won’t lift their one child per family policy, at least not yet — officials claim it has prevented about 400 million additional citizens, even as its biggest practical flaw (setting aside the deeply unpleasant moral breach most Westerners would view it as) seems to be coming home to roost.
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

09 Mar 2011 13:35

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U.S.: California headlines America’s shifting racial demographics

  • 50%+ of children in California are Latino, says the U.S. Census
  • 1:4 children under 18 are non-Hispanic whites, a rate which decreased
  • 38% of all Californians are Latinos, compared with 40 percent whites source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

04 Feb 2011 12:35

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U.S.: Census: Post-Katrina New Orleans shrinks by a third

  • 484,674 New Orleans’ population as of the 2000 census
  • 343,829 the city’s population in 2010, five years after Hurricane Katrina source
  • » As a whole, the country grew: In contrast with the decline of New Orleans’ population, the population at large grew by 9.7 percent, to 308.7 million. The data, overall, is expected to show that minorities caused much of the growth.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

06 Jan 2011 23:25

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U.S.: Check out this awesome interactive census map

  • Ever wonder how many people in your neighborhood went to college? What the average rent is on your block? What percentage of your neighbors were born outside the US? Now you can, thanks to NYT and the US Census. Plug in your zip code and select any number of categories, and you get a spiffy looking map of what’s going down. Try it! source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

21 Dec 2010 20:40

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Politics: No, we’ll be fine! Seriously: Democrats fight against Census claims

  • Democratic communities and constituencies have grown in size in states like Arizona, Florida, Nevada, and Washington. In states that will lose a seat, the number of Republicans who will be competing with each other creates opportunities for House Democrats.
  • Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Steve Israel • Fighting against claims that today’s census numbers are very bad for Democrats. But let’s face it – they’re going to be very challenging for Obama, and Democrats overall, to fight. The only real Democratic stronghold that gained any seats was Washington, and Obama banked his victory on many of the states that lost electoral college votes. The amount we’re talking about wouldn’t have been enough to hurt Obama’s in 2008, but if the 2012 race is closer, it could hurt. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

20 Dec 2010 20:22

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U.S.: Which states stand to gain (and lose) the most from redistricting?

  • With a fresh Census coming out tomorrow, we all know what you’re worried about. That’s right, where are all the seats in the House gonna move? There’s 435 of them, and people don’t stay stationary their entire lives. So, who benefits this time around? Well, if we could put it into two words: The GOP. People in general are moving into areas that have long been Republican strongholds, while moving away from traditionally Democratic Rust Belt states. “The hands that are on the [computer] mouse will be much more Republican hands, presumably crafting much more Republican seats,” said Election Data Services president Kindall Brace, who put that better than we ever could. Anyway, you want specifics, so here are some specifics:
  • winners Texas is the big winner, and Florida and Arizona should also get multiple seats, too. Nearly every state in the South minus hurricane-ravaged Louisiana wins out. So does the Pacific Northwest.
  • losers States with legacy industrial centers in the Midwest, particularly Ohio (which will likely lose two seats) and Michigan. East-coasters lose out too, particularly New York and Massachusetts. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

16 Sep 2010 11:12

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U.S.: Poverty rate numbers: Not unexpected, but still very high

  • 14.3% the poverty rate in the U.S. in 2009 – the highest level since 1994
  • 43.6M the number of Americans currently in need of some sort of help
  • oneethnic group – Asians – didn’t see their poverty levels rise source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

02 Jul 2010 10:04

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Biz: The Census: It’s no longer inflating job numbers, kids

  • 125k jobs disappeared in June, the first dip this year after months of increases
  • 225k Census jobs – specifically – went away in June (they inflated the numbers)
  • 9.5% the current unemployment rate, which somehow went down in June source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

04 Jun 2010 10:42

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Biz: Census jobs: They boost your figures, then go away fast

  • 411,000 the number of added May jobs that came from the Census alone (i.e. most of them)
  • 9.7% the current jobless rate; expect that to go back up when the Census goes away source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
 
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