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Institute for Workplace Studies----------------- Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
School of Industrial & Labor Relations-------- Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor---------------------- Stuart Basefsky
New York, NY 10016 -------------------------------Director, IWS News Bureau
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Congressional Research Service (CRS)

 

Poverty in the United States: 2009

Thomas Gabe, Specialist in Social Policy

September 20, 2010

http://opencrs.com/document/RL33069/2010-09-20/download/1013/

[full-text, 22 pages]

 

Summary

In 2009, 43.6 million people were counted as poor in the United States—an increase of 3.7

million persons from 2010, and the largest number of persons counted as poor in the measure’s

50-year recorded history. The poverty rate, or percent of the population considered poor under the

official definition, was reported at 14.3% in 2009, amounting to one of every seven persons in the

U.S. being counted as poor. The 2009 poverty rate was up from 13.2% in 2008, and above its

most recent pre-recession low of 12.3% in 2006. The increase in poverty over the past three years

reflects the effects of the economic recession that began in December 2007. In spite of signs that

the economy may be recovering, some analysts expect poverty to remain above pre-recessionary

levels for as long as a decade. The incidence of poverty varies widely across the population

according to age, education, labor force attachment, family living arrangements, and area of

residence, among other factors. Under the official poverty definition, an average family of four

was considered poor in 2009 if its pre-tax cash income for the year was below $21,954.

 

The measure of poverty currently in use was developed nearly 50 years ago, and was adopted as

the “official” U.S. statistical measure of poverty in 1969. Except for minor technical changes, and

adjustments for price changes in the economy, the “poverty line” (i.e., the income thresholds by

which families or individuals with incomes that fall below are deemed to be poor) is the same as

that developed nearly a half century ago, reflecting a notion of economic need based on living

standards that prevailed in the mid-1950s.

 

Moreover, poverty as it is currently measured only counts families’ and individuals’ pre-tax

money income against the poverty line in determining whether or not they are poor. In-kind

benefits, such as benefits under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly

named the Food Stamp program) and housing assistance are not accounted for under the

“official” poverty definition, nor are the effects of taxes or tax credits, such as the Earned Income

Tax Credit (EITC) or Child Tax Credit (CTC). In this sense, the “official” measure fails to capture

the effects of a variety of programs and policies specifically designed to address income poverty.

 

A congressionally commissioned study conducted by a National Academy of Sciences (NAS)

panel of experts recommended, some 15 years ago, that a new U.S. poverty measure be

developed, offering a number of specific recommendations. Bills introduced in the 111th Congress

(H.R. 2909 and S. 1625) would instruct the Census Bureau to develop a new “modern” poverty

measure, following NAS recommendations. More recently, under the Obama Administration, an

initiative is underway for the Census Bureau to develop a Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM)

that would reflect many of the NAS panel’s recommendations and be informed by research

conducted on those recommendations over the past 15 years. This initiative aligns with many of

the provisions in H.R. 2909 and S. 1625. Statistics based on the SPM, which has yet to be

developed, are to accompany the Census Bureau’s fall 2011 scheduled release of 2010 income

and poverty statistics under the “official” measure. The new poverty measure is to be considered

an “experimental” measure, to supplement the “official” poverty measure. The “official”

statistical poverty measure would continue to be used by programs that use it as the basis for

allocating funds under formula and matching grant programs. The Department of Health and

Human Services (HHS) would continue to issue poverty income guidelines derived from

“official” Census Bureau poverty thresholds. HHS poverty guidelines are used in determining

individual and family income eligibility under a number of federal and state programs.

 

This CRS report will be updated on an annual basis, following release of U.S. Census Bureau annual

income and poverty estimates.

 

Contents

Trends in Poverty........................................................................................................................1

Definition of Poverty ..................................................................................................................2

Poverty Among Selected Groups .................................................................................................8

Racial and Ethnic Minorities .................................................................................................8

Nativity and Citizenship Status..............................................................................................8

Children...............................................................................................................................8

Adults with Low Education, Unemployment, or Disability ....................................................9

The Aged ..............................................................................................................................9

Receipt of Welfare Among the Poor ..........................................................................................10

The Geography of Poverty ........................................................................................................10

American Community Survey (ACS) State Poverty Estimates ............................................. 11

Figures

Figure 1. Trend in Poverty Rate and Number of Poor Persons: 1959-2009, and

Unemployment Rate from January 1959 through August 2010 .................................................6

Figure 2. U.S. Poverty Rates by Age Group, 1959-2009 ..............................................................7

Figure 3. Poverty Rates for the 50 States and the District of Columbia: 2008 American

Community Survey (ACS) Data .............................................................................................12

Tables

Table 1. Poverty Rates for the 50 States and the District of Columbia, 2002 to 2008

Estimates from the American Community Survey (ACS)........................................................14

Table A-1. Poverty Rates (Percent Poor) for Selected Groups, 1959-2009..................................17

Appendixes

Appendix. U.S. Poverty Statistics: 1959-2009 ...........................................................................17

 

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This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.

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Stuart Basefsky                   
Director, IWS News Bureau                
Institute for Workplace Studies 
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