Poverty in the United States: A Snapshot

More than one out of eight people in the USA are living in poverty.

In 2008, 39.8 million people – 13.2% of the population – were poor according to the government's definition of poverty. This is the highest poverty rate since 1997 and the largest number of people in poverty since 1960.

The United States Bureau of the Census measures poverty by comparing household income to the poverty threshold for a household of a given size. The poverty threshold is a very rough estimate of what a household's basic needs cost, adjusted each year to take account of cost-of-living increases. The poverty threshold does not represent what a family actually needs for a decent living. In 2008 the poverty threshold for a one-person household was just under $11,000, for an adult and child about $14,800, for an adult and two children just over $17,300, and for two adults and two children, just over $21,800.

More than one out of twenty people in the USA are living in deep poverty.

Census figures show that, in 2008, deep poverty, the share of Americans whose cash incomes fall below half of the poverty line, reached its highest point in 14 years. Some 17.1 million Americans, or 5.7% of the population, are living in deep poverty.

Racial and ethnic minorities, women, children, and families headed by single women are particularly vulnerable to poverty and deep poverty.

Blacks and Hispanics are more likely than whites to be poor.

• In 2008, 8.6% (9.4 million) of non-Hispanic whites lived in poverty; 23.2% (11.0 million) of Hispanics lived in poverty; and 24.7% (9.4 million) of blacks lived in poverty.
• 10.0% (4.1 million) of non-Hispanic white children under 18 lived in poverty; 30.3% (4.1 million) of Hispanic children under 18 lived in poverty; and 34.4% (3.8 million) of black children under 18 lived in poverty. Overall, 19% of children under 18 – 14.1 million children – lived below the poverty line.
  
• Although blacks represent 12.6% of the general population, they represent 23.6% of the poor population. Hispanics, who make up 15.7% of the population, represent 27.6% of the poor population.
• Not surprisingly, "Severely poor blacks (4.3 million) are more than three times as likely as non-Hispanic whites to be in deep poverty, while extremely poor Hispanics of any race (3.7 million) are more than twice as likely."

Poverty is a women's issue; Female headed families are more likely to be poor.

• In 2008, women were 35% more likely to be poor than men, and 37% more likely to be in deep poverty than men.
• Families headed by a single adult are more likely to be headed by women, and these female headed families are at greater risk of poverty and deep poverty. 28.7% (4.2 million) of families with a female householder where no husband is present were poor and 14.9% were living in deep poverty. 13.8% (723,000) of families with a male householder where no wife was present were poor and 5.6% were living in deep poverty. 5.5% of married couple families with children were living in poverty and 2.2% were in deep poverty.
• Children living in single female-headed families were more than four times as likely to be poor than children living in married couple families.

Many people living in poverty have work disabilities.

• In 2008, 26.1% of the poor population between the ages of 16 and 64 had a work disability.
• Of those with a severe work disability, 33.6% were poor, compared to 14.1% with a less severe work disability who were poor and 9.1% with no work disability who were poor.

Data from U. S. Census Bureau and other published reports.