Yesterday, the Census Bureau released the annual IncomePoverty and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States reports. There is good news. The median earnings of all women 15 or older who reported earnings increased by nearly 8 percent and by just under 3 percent for women who were full-time workers. 
Earnings by race and ethnicity also increased.
Poverty rates decreased for every characteristic measured. Asians had the highest decrease in poverty rates, a decrease of 2.8 percentage points, and the poverty rate for women decreased more than for men.
The decrease in poverty rates can be seen in the decrease in the percentage of people covered by Medicaid, which was .7 percentage points lower in 2019 than in 2018. A higher percentage of people were covered by private insurance than public insurance, 68% vs. 34.1%.
Hispanics (16.7%), people living in poverty (15.9%), part-time workers (13.4%), and not married adults (15%) had the highest rates of being uninsured.
While this data is important, it is impossible to craft effective policies if measures of well-being are not disaggregated by characteristics of the most vulnerable Americans.
Join me in advocating for the disaggregation of data reported and collected by federal agencies. Together we can create a more inclusive society.
Rhonda V. Sharpe is the president of the Women’s Institute for Science, Equity and Race.
