U.S. Families in Poverty: Racial and Ethnic Differences

(AmeriStat, February 2000) The federal government defines poverty at the family level, and a family’s monetary needs depend on its size and composition. For example, two adults and a child have different requirements for food and housing than one adult and three children. In 1998 the Census Bureau defined the poverty thresholds as $16,660 for a family of four and $13,003 for a family of three.

Poverty is a problem that cuts across racial and ethnic boundaries. Almost half of all families in poverty are white, a little more than a quarter are black, slightly less than a quarter are Hispanic, and the remainder are Asian or from other groups. But when poverty rates are examined by race/
ethnicity, whites are less likely than other groups to be poor. In fact, black and Hispanic families are about three times more likely to live in poverty than white families.

Citations

U.S. Census Bureau, "Poverty Status of Families, by Type of Family, Presence of Related Children, Race, and Hispanic Origin: 1959 to 1998," accessed online at www.census.gov/hhes/poverty/histpov/hstpov4.html on November 18, 1999.

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