Mary Bullard: Are we doing better or worse?
While politics will continue to dominate the news throughout 2024, real data collected by the United States Census Services provides an authentic look at where we have been, where we are, and where we are headed. Their website is extensive, intensive and utterly fascinating. Like Alice, I felt myself falling down the rabbit hole discovering both major trends and little-known minutiae. The website is well organized and easy to navigate – as long as you don’t get distracted.
Let’s first take a little peak at our world. We are connected in every way to every corner of the globe, so this larger picture plays a part in our future. The projected world population on Jan. 1, 2024, was 8,019,876,189, an increase of 75,162,541 (0.95%) from New Year’s Day 2023. During January 2024, 4.3 births and 2.0 deaths are expected worldwide every second.
Getting closer to home, the US population at the end of 2023 was 331,449,281. The US median income is $74,755 with a total of 129,870,928 households. Our unemployment rate nationally is 3.7 % in 8,148,606 employment establishments. Uninsured rates decreased by over half so now 92% have some type of health insurance.
America Counts: Stories Behind the Numbers features stories on various topics such as families, housing, employment, business, education, the economy, emergency management, and population. To highlight the types of data found, tidbits are featured month by month. You can discover who owns America’s businesses and volunteering in America. Or find fun facts about sport players and where the high-tech jobs are. There is info on low-income renters, education and health disparities, and the impact of losing our parents. Discover how many tablets are in households with children, as well as the impact of ending extra SNAP benefits. Check the population vulnerability to rising heat or declining marriage and divorce rates. Find out what percentage of businesses use Artificial Intelligence to produce goods and services.
Beyond feasting on trivia, the more important question is “Are we doing better or worse?” Like Alice at the Mad Hatter Tea Party, we hear news reports that range from despair to jubilation. Newscasters, politicians, and journalists can pick and choose what information to use. Let’s look at inflation: actual data indicates that the US average inflation rate did increase to 5.18% between 2020 and today (An increase of about 5 cents per dollar each year). However, a full-blown recession was averted, and the Federal Reserve predicts inflation will fall to 2% before the end of the summer. Compared to the rest of the world, our economy is strong. The average world inflation rate is 6.9%. What about our poverty rate? In 2015 the poverty rate topped 45 million or 22% of our population. Today the numbers are lower. 37 million people — 11% of our population — are still struggling below the poverty rate.
So what do we do with all this data? Some of that above data is encouraging: employment is strong, health insurance is available to most. Many ethnic and racial groups are now being represented. We can do better by having accurate data to spot our weak points and address our needs. Fact-checking can be tedious; however, the US Census Service has provided a way to make research easier, especially if you love discovering odd facts. https://census.gov
— Mary Bullard is a retired librarian who belongs to Stronger together Huddle, a group engaged in supporting and promoting the common good. She resides in Lambertville and can be reached at mcneil102@icloud.com.
This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Mary Bullard: Are we doing better or worse?
