Tagged: U.S. Census Bureau

Newly released census figures show a long-standing and glaring contrast: A third of families headed by single mothers are in poverty, and they are four times more likely than married-couple families to be poor. The disparity is on the rise, and as the number of single mothers grows, analysts are debating if more marriages could mean less poverty.

In 2011, the poverty rate in the United States remained steady and the number of uninsured Americans decreased, the Census Bureau said today. That means that more than 46 million Americans lived below the poverty line last year.

NPR's Pam Fessler filed this report for our Newscast unit:

The U.S. Census bureau is reporting that the number of Americans in poverty held steady at 15 percent between 2010 and 2011. However, real median income of households in the West declined by 4.1 percent, marking the fourth consecutive annual decline in the region.