Half in Ten’s 2012 report underscores growing inequality, effectiveness of work and income supports, and ability to cut poverty while tackling federal deficits.

As Congress looks to avoid the fiscal cliff, the Half in Ten campaign released a new report today that provides key insights into how America is faring on key indicators of cutting poverty and expanding opportunity for all.

Today, in response to new Census Bureau data for 2011 that reveal an unchanged rate of poverty and declining middle class incomes, Half in Ten’s leadership issued the following statements.

The president’s budget for fiscal year 2013 lays out critical investments that will help more Americans join the middle class and encourage shared economic growth, all in the context of cutting $4.3 trillion from our deficit over the next 10 years.

Half in Ten applauds the progressive policy agenda outlined by President Barack Obama in his State of the Union address on Tuesday. The president’s focus on higher education, job creation, and equitable tax policies will help strengthen the middle class, and it represents the types of aggressive steps that are necessary in the near term if we are to achieve our goal of cutting poverty in half over the next decade.

Today the Census Bureau released the 2010 supplemental poverty measure, or SPM, which reveals that last year 16 percent of the population lived in poverty, higher than the 15.2 percent the traditional measure shows. This new measure better reflects the medical out of pocket costs and work expenses that families face such as child care and transportation, and takes into account the impact of public policies such as the earned income tax credit and SNAP/food stamps program in keeping people out of poverty.

Washington, D.C. – Today the Half in Ten campaign released a landmark report contrasting the number of struggling families in today’s economy with comprehensive data on the challenges we face in creating enough decent-wage jobs, supplying sufficient affordable housing units, and other foundational supports to ensure pathways out of poverty for millions of Americans.

Washington, D.C. — Half in Ten, the campaign to cut poverty in half over 10 years, today released new interactive maps that break down the newly released 2010 poverty data by state and congressional district.

WASHINGTON – Half in Ten, the campaign to cut poverty in half over 10 years, urged Congress and the administration today to take immediate action in response to new Census Bureau data for 2010 that reveal a significant increase in poverty and hardship and a weakened middle class. Specifically, the data show that 2.6 million more Americans fell into poverty, median incomes declined by 2.3 percent, and 50 million people lacked health care coverage.

In anticipation of the president’s jobs speech, Half in Ten encourages the administration to propose job-creation policies that match the scope of the jobs crisis and strategies that include those traditionally left behind during economic recoveries.