Family Income

WASHINGTON -- Single-family homes were more affordable in November than at any time in the last 17 1/2 years, a report issued yesterday by the National Association of Realtors says.The trend is expected to continue, because the Federal Reserve Board has acted since then to encourage even lower interest rates.As usual, existing single-family homes were most affordable in the Midwest and South. But the report said that even in the Northeast and West, more families than usual could find affordable homes.

For those of you who can't afford your dream home in Baltimore, the National Association of Homebuilders has the place for you.Kokomo, Ind., was named the nation's most affordable housing market for the third quarter of 1997, according to the NAHB's Housing Opportunity Index of 195 cities.The rankings, which are based on marketing and survey data, measure the percentage of homes sold in a city in which a family that meets the median income for that city could afford to buy. Kokomo's median sales price was $69,000, 46 percent under the national sales price median of $127,000.

WASHINGTON -- Experts at the National Academy of Sciences will soon recommend major changes in the way poverty is defined and measured, changes that could substantially increase the number of working Americans classified as poor.The official definition of poverty used by the federal government for three decades is based simply on cash income before taxes.But in a report to be issued Wednesday, a panel of specialists convened by the academy three years ago at the behest of Congress says the government should move toward a concept of poverty based on disposable income, the amount left after a family pays taxes and essential expenses.

WASHINGTON -- President Clinton heads today for Atlanta to lead a conference that will seek answers to problems in the American economy -- answers that may provide a hint of the president's own re-election chances.In two years, Mr. Clinton has presided over an economy in which productivity has increased, unemployment has declined, inflation has stayed in check, and the budget deficits have declined as a percentage of the gross domestic product.Yet many Americans are worried, if not scared, and White House economists say they know why: Too many of the jobs being created are low-wage, service-oriented positions; benefits are being reduced; and wage increases are small.

THE BALTIMORE-BASED Annie E. Casey Foundation recently issued its 15th annual Kids Count Data Book, a respected source of information about the condition of America's young people. The results were bad news - and a challenge - for Maryland. The foundation selected 10 key indicators of child well-being. Between 1996 and 2001, Maryland underperformed the nation on eight of them, including infant mortality and high-school dropout rates. Overall, Maryland received a below-average score, ranking 27th among the 50 states.

WHAT HAPPENS when a struggling single mother supporting two children loses her part-time job? Like other workers, she is assisted with Unemployment Insurance (UI), right? Wrong. In Maryland, those who are unemployed and seeking part-time work are ineligible for UI benefits. Fifty years ago, Maryland's highest court interpreted the unemployment law as requiring applicants for benefits to be able and available for full-time work. The harsh effects of this policy fall disproportionately on women, especially low-income women, and prove that the state doesn't support family values such as caretaking.

WASHINGTON -- George and Barbara Bush saw their family income triple last year to $1.3 million, thanks to whopping sales of "Millie's Book," an autobiographical tale ghost-written for the first dog.But while the president and his wife donated all their after-tax book profits to charity, it did not begin at home.Despite recent protests, the first couple continued to take advantage on their 1991 tax returns of provisions that allow them to avoid paying income taxes to Washington, D.C., or to either of the two states -- Texas and Maine -- where they also have residences.

WESTMINSTER - Without federal assistance, said Dorothy Heffner, she and her husband, John, wouldn't have been able to pay heating bills for the past few years in their Liberty Street home."

THE SUBLIME and ridiculous in education, Year of Our Lord 2002: President Bush signed the No Child Left Behind Act on Elvis' birthday, Jan. 8. The 1,200-page NCLB overnight vaulted a slew of acronyms into the lexicon of American schools, most notably AYP, for adequate yearly progress. Guidebooks interpreting the new law run up to 80 pages. The National Geographic Society surveyed the geographic literacy of adults 18 to 34 in nine countries. Only 14 percent of the Americans could find Israel on a map, but 34 percent could identify an island where the television series Survivor was filmed.

WASHINGTON -- A funny thing happened during the go-go decade of the '80s: the rich got richer while the rest of the population seemed stuck in a rut.That conclusion was reached in the first comprehensive study of the distribution of wealth during Reagan era by the Federal Reserve Board.The study released today found that the incomes of affluent Americans rose more quickly throughout the decade than those of middle Americans. The disparity between the wealthiest Americans and the rest of the nation was even more evident in a comparison based on net worth, the Fed found.