WASHINGTON — The national poverty rate declined last year by nine-tenths of a percentage point, to 14.4 percent, the largest one-year decrease since 1968, the Census Bureau reported Tuesday.
The total number of poor people in the United States declined by 1.8 million, from 35.5 million in 1983 to 33.7 million in 1984, the bureau said. Poverty rates for blacks, for the elderly and for families headed by women all declined, the bureau said.
Commenting on the report, President Reagan said: ``I believe these numbers are further proof that the greatest enemy of poverty is the free enterprise system. The success of 1984 does not mean that the battle against poverty in this country is over; it does mean that America, after a difficult decade, is once again headed in the right direction.``
Patrick J. Buchanan, the White House communications director, hailed the figures as a ``triumph`` for Reagan`s policies. He said they showed that ``American capitalism is the best machine ever devised for bringing people out of poverty.``
However, Democrats observed that the poverty rate was higher in 1984 than in any year from 1970 to 1980 and that the rate for black children under the age of 6 continued to increase. Moreover, they said the new data suggested growing gaps between rich and poor.
Median family income last year was $26,430, up 3.3 percent from 1983 after adjustment to account for inflation, the bureau said. ``Not since 1972 has family income increased at a faster rate,`` it said.
The decline in the poverty rate last year was the first since 1978 and the biggest since 1968. However, last year`s rate was also the third-highest since 1966, exceeded only by rates of 15.3 percent in 1983 and 15 percent in 1982. In 1980, the year before Reagan took office, the poverty rate was 13 percent.