AFT’s Weingarten on Census Bureau Report

WASHINGTON—In response to the U.S. Census Bureau’s report “Income, Poverty and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2015,” AFT President Randi Weingarten issued the following statement:

“Today’s report from the Census Bureau is really good news. President Obama’s policies are working, and he deserves credit. Working families made important financial gains last year. After decades of stagnation, wages are rising, with median household income growing by 5.2 percent—the largest rise in real median household income ever recorded. Just as important, the poverty rate decreased by 1.2 percent and the number of children living in poverty dropped by 1.4 percent, lifting more than 1 million children out of poverty. Working people saw a better paycheck across the board—in every corner of the country, across age, race and gender, with the greatest improvements felt by poor and middle-income families.

“This administration inherited the worst recession since the Great Depression and tried mightily to prioritize the needs of working families in the wake of that recession. By taking important steps like expanding access to medical care through the Affordable Care Act, investing in our communities through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, and protecting us from risky or abusive action through Dodd-Frank and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau—all while fighting to maintain Social Security and Medicare; the earned income tax credit; and numerous federal education, labor, health and human services, and food programs—this administration has focused on ways to support and protect working families from day one.

“While this is some of the best economic news in years, more needs to be done to sustain these trends. As our economy continues to recover, we have a clear choice with the upcoming election: We can gamble away our future with Donald Trump, whose plans could throw our economy into another recession with an economic plan that Moody’s Analytics said would cause the loss of 3.5 million jobs. Alternatively, with Hillary Clinton, we can build on President Obama’s progress and change the economic rules so the economy works for everyone. Clinton’s plans to rebuild our infrastructure, bring new manufacturing jobs, expand access to pre-K and higher education, invest in our communities, and support labor and small businesses will expand the middle class. Her plans will level the playing field for all Americans and work to fulfill our shared responsibility to make the American dream real for all.”