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Poverty in the United States: A Snapshot

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

In 2005,  36,950,000 individuals - 12.6% of the population -  were poor, according to the government's definition of poverty.

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 an estimate of what a household's basic needs cost. It is 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. For example, in 2005 the poverty threshold for a household of one was $9,973 and $15,577 for a household of three.

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

Census figures show that 15,928,000 people - 5.4% of the population - lived in deep poverty, that is, with income below half of the poverty threshold. This is the highest rate of deep poverty in at least 32 years.

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 2005, 8.3% of non-Hispanic whites lived in poverty; 21.8% of Hispanics lived in poverty; and 24.9% of blacks lived in poverty.
  • 6% of non-Hispanic white families lived in poverty; 20.6% of Hispanic families lived in poverty; and 23.8% of black families lived in poverty.
  • 10% of non-Hispanic white children under 18 were poor; 28.3% of Hispanic children under 18 were poor; and 34.5 of black children under 18 were poor. Overall, 17.6% of children under 18 - 12,896,000 children - lived in poverty.
  • 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.

  • Women are more likely than men to be poor. In 2005 the overall female poverty rate was 14.1% compared to 11.1% for males. The poverty rate for women 18 to 64 years old was 13%, compared to 9.1% for men in that age range. The poverty rate for women 65 and older was 12.3%, compared to 7.3% for men in that age range.

Female headed families are more likely to be poor

  • 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. Of single adult headed families, 31.1% of families headed by a woman were poor; 13.4% of families headed by a man were poor.
  • 1.1 million single parent families with 2.1 million children were in deep poverty.

Many people living in poverty are ill or have disabilities

Of the 4,484,000 adults 35 to 54 years old in poverty who did not work the previous year, 2,167,000 – some 48.3% – were ill or disabled. The second most common reason for not working was home or family reasons (32.2%).


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