Census Bureau: More Latinos in poverty

More Latinos in the U.S. find themselves impoverished according to a report released today by the Census Bureau.

Using information collected in 2008, the agency found that median income for Latinos dropped by a whopping 5.6% to $37,913. This is more than any other racial group and only the second-lowest real median income just ahead of blacks.

Furthermore, nearly one in four Latinos (23.2%) were below the poverty line in 2008; a number that was slightly less than blacks but far more than other racial groups. Nevertheless, median income fell for all racial groups and poverty levels increased across the board.

The current numbers ma be worse since the Census figures did not take into account most of the recession which officially began in December 2008. Furthermore, family incomes below the poverty line did not account for income from food stamps or that was unreported. Along with the growth in the medically uninsured (31% of Latinos), some activists are calling for more to be done like health care reform:

At the Yorkville Common Pantry, an emergency meal program in East Harlem, Joel Berg, the executive director of the New York City Coalition Against Hunger, said the troubling numbers underscore the need for health reform.

"Today's new numbers make it clearer than ever that lack of health insurance and inability to pay medical bills is one of the greatest contributing factors to poverty and hunger in America," Berg said. "People in poor health rarely earn significant wealth."

Image- CNN (“Migrant laborers help in the post-Hurricane Katrina cleanup in New Orleans, Louisiana, in 2006.”)
Online Sources- New York Times, Miami Herald, Census Bureau, Univision.com