How the Policy Environment Has Changed (2009)

	1968*	2009
U.S. population	200,706,052	307,006,550
Minimum wage in 2009 dollars	$9.82	$7.25 (after 7/09)
Dow Jones Industrial Average	943.75	10,428.05 (Dec 31, 2009)
% of families headed by female with no husband present	10.77%	18.5% (2008)
% of women age 25–54 in paid jobs	46.3%	69.1%
% of federal spending (discretionary vs. mandatory)	66.3% vs. 33.5%	35% vs. 65%
% of employed labor force age 25 and older with a college degree	14.2%	36.1%
Average SAT score of entering college classes	Mathematics 533	Mathematics 515
	Verbal 541	Critical Reading 501
		Writing 493
GDP per capita (nominal)	$4,534	$46,372
GDP per capita 2009 dollars	$22,598	$46,372
National health expenditures as share of GDP	6.5%	17.3%
Urban % of total population	73.6%	83%
% of voting-age citizen population who voted in presidential election	64%	63%
Violent crimes per 100,000 people	298.4	454.5 (2008)
Share of total household income received by
poorest fifth	4.2%	3.4%
richest fifth	42.8%	50.0% (2008)
Foreign-born population	9.6 million (1970)	38 million (2007)
% of U.S. population that is foreign born	4.8% (1970)	12.6% (2007)

*year Urban Institute was founded