2011 SNAPSHOT: Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage

Newly released data from the U.S. Census Bureau's Current Population Survey (CPS) present a startling picture of poverty in the nation and the Midwest: millions of individuals and families face persistent challenges in their struggles to gain a foothold on the path to economic recovery. Yet, these near unprecedented poverty levels are not simply the result of the recession and a sluggish recovery. Poverty was on the rise before the recession began as broader shifts in wages, job quality, workforce preparation, inequality, and harmful cuts to the safety net disproportionately impacted people at the lower end of the income spectrum.