New poverty and health insurance numbers released by the U.S. Census Bureau on Wednesday show modest decreases in the overall poverty rate, but other markers of economic inequality remained unchanged or have worsened. While median household incomes slightly increased from 2016 to 2017, growth wasn’t equally shared across all income brackets, as an analyst with the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute explained on Twitter:
In 2015 and 2016, income growth was stronger and broad-based, with growth for low- and middle-income households tracking overall growth. In 2017, however, well-worn patterns of inequality reemerged, with stronger growth at the top than for typical households.
— Elise Gould (@eliselgould) September 12, 2018
In a press release, EPI further noted that progress in closing the racial wealth gap had stalled.
According to the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, the rate of uninsured Americans remained at a historic low from 2016 to 2017, but last year was the first since the passage of the Affordable Care Act that didn’t show major gains in insurance coverage rates. The CBPP attributes this to the Trump administration’s attacks on the ACA. “Last year’s sabotage efforts likely prevented additional coverage gains by creating barriers to obtaining available and affordable coverage,” it noted in its analysis of the Census figures. Some populations even saw a decline in coverage last year: 14 percent of Americans aged 19 to 64 were uninsured, up from 13.1 percent in 2016.