Poverty
Before the mid-1970s, economic growth in the United States was associated with falling poverty rates. If that relationship had held, poverty would have been eradicated in the 1980s. The decoupling of rising growth and falling poverty, however, means that Americans are working longer and harder but becoming poorer and less secure.
Poverty measurement
-
Poverty and twice-poverty rates,1959–2011
Economic indicators: Income & Poverty Figure 7A in State of Working America 12th Edition
-
Poverty rate, by age, 1959–2011
Economic indicators: Income & Poverty Figure 7B in State of Working America 12th Edition
-
Poverty rate, by race and ethnicity, nativity, and citizenship status, 1973–2011
Economic indicators: Income & Poverty Figure 7C in State of Working America 12th Edition
-
Poverty rate, by race and ethnicity, and age, 2011
Economic indicators: Income & Poverty Figure 7D in State of Working America 12th Edition
-
Poverty rates of various types of families, 1959–2011
Economic indicators: Income & Poverty Figure 7E in State of Working America 12th Edition
-
Length of time in poverty over a two-year period, 2008–2009
Figure 7F in State of Working America 12th Edition
-
Share of the poor in "deep poverty," 1975–2011
Economic indicators: Income & Poverty Figure 7G in State of Working America 12th Edition
-
Poverty rates, official and under the Supplemental Poverty Measure, by age group, 2010
Figure 7H in State of Working America 12th Edition
The working poor
-
Demographic characteristics of poverty-level-wage workers vs. non-poverty-level-wage workers, 2011
Figure 7J in State of Working America 12th Edition
-
Industry, occupation, and union status of poverty-level-wage workers vs. non-poverty-level-wage workers, 2011
Figure 7K in State of Working America 12th Edition
-
Share of poverty-level-wage and non-poverty-level-wage workers with employer-sponsored health insurance and pension coverage, 2010
Figure 7L in State of Working America 12th Edition
-
Contribution of hours versus hourly wages to annual wage growth for working-age households, selected years, 1979–2007 (2011 dollars)
Table 7.2 in State of Working America 12th Edition
Determinants of low incomes
-
Poverty rate, actual and simulated, 1959–2011
Economic indicators: Income & Poverty Figure 7M in State of Working America 12th Edition
-
Change in productivity, 20th-percentile wages, unemployment, and poverty, selected periods, 1979–2010
Figure 7N in State of Working America 12th Edition
-
Increase in wages from a 1 percentage-point decline in the unemployment rate, by gender
Figure 7O in State of Working America 12th Edition
-
Impact of changes in U.S. economic and demographic composition on the poverty rate, selected periods, 1979–2010
Table 7.3 in State of Working America 12th Edition
-
Impact of changes in family structure on the poverty rate, selected periods, 1979–2010
Figure 7P in State of Working America 12th Edition
-
Impact of changes in U.S. economic and demographic composition on the poverty rate, 1979–2007
Figure 7Q in State of Working America 12th Edition
Resources for low-income Americans
-
Per capita Social Security expenditures and the elderly poverty rate, 1959–2011
Economic indicators: Income & Poverty Figure 7R in State of Working America 12th Edition
-
Poverty rate absent targeted government programs, by age group, 2010
Figure 7S in State of Working America 12th Edition
-
Share of bottom-fifth household income accounted for by wages, cash transfers, and in-kind income, 1979–2007
Figure 7T in State of Working America 12th Edition
International comparisons
-
Earnings at the 10th percentile as a share of median worker earnings in selected OECD countries, late 2000s
Figure 7U in State of Working America 12th Edition
-
Earnings at the 10th percentile in selected OECD countries relative to the United States, late 2000s
Figure 7V in State of Working America 12th Edition
-
Relative poverty rate in the United States and selected OECD countries, late 2000s
Figure 7W in State of Working America 12th Edition
-
Child poverty rate in selected developed countries, 2009
Figure 7X in State of Working America 12th Edition
-
Child poverty gap in selected developed countries, 2009
Figure 7Y in State of Working America 12th Edition
-
Extent to which taxes and transfer programs reduce the relative poverty rate, selected OECD countries, late 2000s
Figure 7Z in State of Working America 12th Edition
-
Social expenditure and relative poverty rates in selected OECD countries, late 2000s
Figure 7AA in State of Working America 12th Edition
