JUDY WOODRUFF:

The U.S. Census Bureau has been releasing a lot of new data this week on income, poverty and economic growth. Much of it, unfortunately, confirms again what many Americans already know and deal with on a day-to-day basis. That is that real incomes are not moving up appreciably.

The country's median household income in 2013 was $51,939, up $180 from the year before, but still below where it was prior to the great recession. There was some good news. The official poverty rate fell slightly to 14.5 percent. And it was the largest drop in child poverty in a single year since the 1960s. The growth in family household incomes was also better than for households with singles or roommates.

Sheldon Danziger is the president of the Russell Sage Foundation, which closely studies these issues.

And, Sheldon Danziger, welcome to the NewsHour.

Let me start by asking you, as we said, some good news along with the bad news. Why don't you explain the good news first?