Children, Young Adults Stuck in Poverty
2017 data from the U.S. Census Bureau show that progress for low-income Americans came to a near halt during the first year of the Trump Administration, in sharp contrast to previous years of progress. In 2017, the poverty rate fell slightly to 12.3 percent and the number of people in poverty was statistically unchanged from 2016, compared to the substantial decline in poverty in the previous two years (from 14.8 percent in 2014 to 13.5 percent in 2015 and 12.7 percent in 2016). While median household income rose for all households—at a far lower rate than in previous years—the improvement was concentrated among those in the top half of incomes.
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