The Bureau of Census released a report on Tuesday, which showed that the 2013 poverty rate has declined for the first time in seven years. However, no drastic change in the percentage of poor people or in the income of the average American household was observed.

The census report also revealed that the rate of children living in poverty declined in 2013 for the first time since 2000. The report showed that from 16.1 million children under 18 in poverty, the number dropped by 1.4 million and is currently only 14.7 million.

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In total, the rate of Americans living in poverty declined from 15 percent in 2012 to 14.5 percent in 2013, according to the bureau.

In a statement released by Census Bureau official Charles T. Nelson, he said the decline in the poverty rate of Americans is partly due to the increase in the employment rate in the country.

Nelson particularly pointed out to the increase in income of parents with dependent children.

According to the bureau's annual report on income and poverty, the number of people living in poverty in 2012 did not drastically change compared with 2013, in which nearly 45.3 million people were below the poverty line.

The poverty level changes depending on the family's size and composition. A household with four members and has less than US $23,830 annual income is considered poor while a single person would have a threshold of US $11,890.

The Consumer Price Index dictates the poverty level for each year, which indicates the number of poor people relative to the total population.  

The poverty rate can rise or decline relative to the changes in the total population regardless of the changes in the number of people living in poverty.

The Chairman of the House Budget Committee and Republican Representative, Paul D. Ryan, said the census report showed that "America can do better" and can improve in terms of solving the problems of poverty.

The report of the Census Bureau was based on an interview conducted on about 68,000 families who were chosen as representatives of the entire American household population.

Tagscensus, poverty rate, US poverty, Recession