The U.S. economic recession is hitting Hispanic households harder in the pocketbook than it is affecting other ethnic or racial groups, according to a new U.S. Census analysis.

   Overall, there were 39.8 million persons living in poverty in this country

last year (13.2%) vs. 37.3 million the year before (12.5 %).  

   For Hispanics, the rate jumped 1.7%, up to 23.2%, more than double that percentage increase for any other group.

   Overall, the plunge deeper into poverty revealed that for the first time in three years that our national income didn’t increase across the board.

   Real medium household income fell 3.6% for all groups — $52,163 to $50,303. Hispanics suffered the greatest decline at 5.6%, dropping to $37,913. Their tumble rate was double that of whites as well as blacks.

   Changes in health care statistics offered little more room for optimism. The number of persons without health insurance coverage rose from

45.7 million in 2007 to 46.3 million in 2008. The percentage of persons in the country without coverage — 15.4 — remained unchanged.

   The percentage of uninsured Hispanics actually decreased. It dipped to 30.7% from 32.1% in 2007 to 30.7 last year. The total of uninsured Hispanics, at 14.6 million, however, was not statistically different in 2008 over the year before.

   These and other findings were revealed Sept. 10 in a Census Bureau report titled “Income, Poverty and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2008.”

   Whites lost ground in the health insurance indicator, with 10.8%, and 21.3 million (10.8%) claiming no insurance in 2008, compared to 10.4% and 20.5 million (10.4%) in 2007. The uninsured rate and number for blacks comparing the two years were not statistically different.

   The report also showed that in 2008 the poverty rate among the foreign-born population was 17.8% vs. 12.6 for the native-born, For naturalized citizens, it was 10.2% while for those who were not U.S. citizens is was more than double that, 23.3%

   For all children younger than 18 it was 19.0%.

   Carmen Delgado Votaw, longtime children’s advocate both working on the Hill and serving on national boards, expressed particular concern for Latino children, who make up a disproportionately high percentage of this group’s population.

   The voices of young people are seldom heard, she said. In many states, including New York, those under 21 cannot legally serve on corporate boards, even with organizations devoted to addressing children’s needs, she pointed out. 

   The CPS ASEC is subject to sampling and nonsampling errors. All comparisons made in the report have been tested and found to be statistically significant at the 90 percent confidence level, unless otherwise noted.

   ©2009