A New Look at Poverty in America

Population Bulletin, Vol. 51, No. 2, September 1996

by William P. O'Hare

Introduction

Both the number of poor and the poverty rate are higher in the 1990s than they were in the 1970s. In 1994, 14.5 percent of Americans were poor, compared with 11.1 percent in 1973. The U.S. poverty population includes nearly 40 million people in the mid-1990s, about 15 million above the 1973 number. The increase in poverty has been driven by a 50 percent rise in the child poverty rate.

Poverty is a complex issue, and the poverty population is dynamic and diverse. The national poverty rate masks substantial differences among population groups and across geographic areas. The poverty rate for children is twice that of the elderly, for example. The rate for people in female-headed families is five times that of people in married-couple families, and the rate for blacks and Hispanics is three times the rate for non-Hispanic whites. The poverty rate in Louisiana is three times the rate for New Hampshire and Delaware.

The full text of this Population Bulletin is available in print only. Please visit our online store to order. Listed below are all the sections of this Bulletin.

Introduction

The Changing Policy Background

What Is Poverty?

Who Are the Poor?

Long-Term Declines in Poverty� 1940 to 1994