We highly recommend the US Census Bureau's September 2011 report titled Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage. It's a fascinating report on the state of our country.
Some facts that really stood out to us:
- 46.2 million people in the US live in poverty, an increase of 2.6 million since 2009.
- 2010 official poverty rate for the nation was 15.1%, up from 14.3% in 2009
- Percentage of families "doubling up" has increased 10.7% since 2007
Here at Habitat for Humanity of Southern Santa Barbara County we have a long waiting list of families wishing to partner with us. Many of these families live in substandard housing and "double up" as a way to save money and afford the city's expensive rental costs. We were encouraged to see that the US Census Bureau was tracking these families as we believe that families thrive when they have their own safe, decent, and affordable home to call their own.
Be sure to view the full report here: http://www.nlihc.org/oor/oor2010/data.cfm?getstate=on&getcounty=on&county=5447&state=CA
