Teens from Poor Families Less Likely to Play Sports

Teenagers at or near poverty level are much less likely than their higher-income counterparts to play sports, according to the Census Bureau's Survey of Income and Program Participation. Among all teenagers aged 12 to 17, a substantial 44.5 percent participate in sports. But this figure is as low as 33 percent among those with family incomes below poverty level. Here is the percentage of teens who play sports by family income...

Percent of 12-to-17-year-olds who play sports by family income relative to poverty level
Family income below poverty level: 32.9%
100 to 199 percent of poverty level: 35.2%
200 to 299 percent of poverty level: 44.3%
300 to 399 percent of poverty level: 51.3%
400 percent or more of poverty level: 56.5%

Poor and near-poor teens are also are less likely to take part in other extracurricular activities such as clubs and lessons. This is a problem, the Census Bureau says, because "participation in activities is particularly important for children from low-income families as it mediates some of the socioeconomic disadvantage."

Source: Census Bureau, A Child's Day: Parental Interaction, School Engagement, and Extracurricular Activities: 2014

Less Poverty among Widows

Widows aren't as poor as they used to be. The poverty rate of widows fell from 20 to 13 percent between 1994 and 2014, according to the Center for Retirement Research. To find out why the poverty rate of widows has declined, CRR researchers analyzed data from the 1994 and 2014 waves of the Health and Retirement Study, linking widows aged 65 to 85 in the HRS with their Social Security earnings and benefits records. The poverty rate of widows has declined for two reasons, the researchers found—increased education and labor force participation.

Education: The widows of 2014 had an average of 12.1 years of schooling compared with only 10.7 years of schooling for their 1994 counterparts. More education equals higher earnings and bigger Social Security benefits, reducing poverty.

Labor force participation: The widows of 2014 had worked for 25.2 years, on average, compared with 14.7 years of work for the 1994 widows. More years in the labor force equals higher Social Security benefits and less poverty.

The poverty rate of widows will continue to decline, the researchers predict, falling to 8 percent by 2029. While educational attainment and labor force participation will be factors in the continuing decline, just as important will be marital selection—the greater likelihood of marriage among better educated women. Unlike in decades past, better educated women today are more likely to marry (and less likely to divorce if married) than their less-educated counterparts. Consequently, the pool of widows is becoming increasingly educated and less likely to be poor.

Source: Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, What Factors Explain the Decline in Widows' Poverty?

What Poverty Does to Children

The latest numbers from the Current Population Survey show that 21 percent of children under age 18 were poor in 2014. Even worse, nearly twice as many—39 percent—live in poverty for a period of time before they turn 18. This matters because children who have ever been poor are less likely to succeed than those who have never been poor, according to the Urban Institute.

In a study of Americans born between 1968 and 1989, those who had ever experienced poverty before the age of 18 were less likely than those who had never experienced poverty to graduate from high school, enroll in college, and earn a college degree. While 70 percent of the never-poor were consistently employed between the ages of 25 and 30, the figure was only 57 percent among the ever-poor. Twenty-four percent of the ever-poor had been arrested by age 20 compared with 16 percent of the never-poor.

Source: Urban Institute, Child Poverty and Adult Success

Turmoil in Children's Lives

Turmoil is the norm for many children, according to a Census Bureau study. Among the nation's children under age 18, the 56 percent majority experience potentially troublesome transitions in their home life over a four-year time period. Using Survey of Income and Program Participation longitudinal data, the Census Bureau examined three types of transitions: 1) a change in the number of parents (or partners) in the home; 2) moving from one house to another; and 3) an employment change for at least one parent.

Some children's lives are much more chaotic than others. Not surprisingly, the lower the income the greater the chaos. Among children with family incomes below poverty level, fully 70 percent experienced at least one transition over a four-year period. Among children with the highest family incomes, only 42 percent experienced a transition.

Source: Census Bureau, A Child's Day: Living Arrangements, Nativity, and Family Transitions: 2011 (Selected Indicators of Child Well-Being

Poverty Is Not Permanent

There's a lot of handwringing about the nation's poor, and well there should be. But keep this in mind as the debate rages: poverty is not permanent. A Census Bureau study of poverty from 2009 through 2012 shows millions escaping poverty every year. Of the 35 million poor counted by the Census Bureau's Panel Study of Income Dynamics in 2009, a substantial 42 percent were not poor in 2012.

Of course, making a living wage is not necessarily permanent either. Among the 249 million Americans who were not poor in 2009, an unfortunate 6 percent had fallen into poverty by 2012. During the time period, which was marked by the struggle to recover from the Great Recession, the number of people sinking into poverty surpassed the number escaping it—15.7 million fell in and 14.8 million climbed out.

Source: Census Bureau, Dynamics of Economic Well-Being: Poverty 2009-2012

One in Five Americans

One in five Americans is poor or nearly poor, according to the Census Bureau. Fully 61 million of the nation's 311 million people were living in or near poverty in 2012, defined as having a family income either below the poverty level or within 100 to 125 percent of the poverty level. For a family of four with two adults and two children, this is an income of $29,104 or less. For someone who lives alone, it's an income of $14,931 or less. As a point of reference, a minimum wage worker who logs 40 hours a week, 52 weeks a year, would have an annual income just above the near-poverty level, at $15,080.

Between 1966 and 2012, the percentage of Americans who live in or near poverty has fallen slightly—from 21.0 to 19.7 percent. The percentage in poverty climbed from 14.7 to 15.0 percent during those years, while the percentage near poverty fell from 6.3 to 4.7 percent. The poor and near-poor population expanded by more than 20 million between 1966 and 2012.

Source: Census Bureau, Living in Near Poverty in the United States: 1966-2012

The Toothless Elderly

Among Americans aged 65 or older, 23 percent have lost all their natural teeth. The percentage peaks at 58 percent among poor whites in nonmetropolitan areas of the South Atlantic states.

Source: CDC, Health Data Interactive

One in Three Americans Experienced Poverty

In a three-year time period, nearly one-third of Americans experienced poverty, according to a Census Bureau report. During the 36 months from January 2009 through December 2011, fully 31.6 percent of the population was poor for at least two months.

By race and Hispanic origin, the percentage of the population in poverty for at least two months ranged from a high of 49.6 percent among Hispanics to a low of 25.4 percent among non-Hispanic whites. By age the percentage was as high as 40.6 percent among children, 31.0 percent among adults aged 18 to 64, and 15.7 percent among the elderly. By educational attainment, the 50.6 percent majority of those without a high school diploma experienced at least a two-month spell of poverty. Even among those with some college education, a substantial 22.9 percent experienced at least two months of poverty during the three-year time period under analysis.

Among those who experienced poverty, the median length of a poverty spell was 6.6 months. Only 3.5 percent were poor for the entire 36 months.

Source: Census Bureau, Dynamics of Economic Well-Being: Poverty, 2009-2011

Children in Wireless-Only Households

In 12 states, at least half the children under age 18 live in wireless-only households—meaning their household has a cell phone but no landline phone, according to the National Center for Health Statistics. The 12 states are Arkansas, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas.

Nationally, 45 percent of children live in wireless-only households. Among adults, a smaller 38 percent are wireless-only. Children are more likely to be wireless-only because parents of children under age 18 are younger than the average adult and more likely to own a cell phone.

Another reason children are more likely than adults to be wireless-only is the low incomes of many of today's parents. Among the poor, the 55 percent majority are wireless-only. Among those who are not poor, the figure is just 33 percent. The poverty factor explains why Mississippi, the poorest state, has the largest share of children living in a wireless-only household—63 percent in 2012.

Source: National Center for Health Statistics, National Health Interview Survey, Wireless Substitution: State-level Estimates from the National Health Interview Survey, 2012; and Wireless Substitution: Early Release of Estimates from the National Health Interview Survey, January-June, 2013

The Old Would Be Poor without Social Security

Only 9.1 percent of Americans aged 65 or older are poor—a lower poverty rate than in any other age group. Without Social Security, however, the poverty rate of people aged 65 or older would rise to 54.7 percent, according to the Census Bureau's 2012 supplemental poverty measure research.

What's Wrong with the Rural South, Part 2

In the nation as a whole, 301 nonmetropolitan counties are persistently poor. Persistent poverty means at least 20 percent of a county's population lives in poverty as measured by the 1980, 1990, and 2000 censuses and the 2007-11 American Community Survey. Almost all the persistently poor nonmetro counties are in the South. Here are the numbers by region...

252 in the South
29 in the Midwest
20 in the West
0 in the Northeast

Source: USDA Economic Research Service, Persistent-Poverty Counties Are Mostly Nonmetro, Generally Southern

The Working Poor by Occupation

Among the 147 million workers in the labor force for 27 or more weeks in 2011, 10 million (7.0 percent) did not earn enough to rise above the poverty level. They are the working poor, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The percentage of workers who are working poor varies greatly by occupation...

Farming: 17.2%
Service: 13.1%
Construction: 10.6%
Transportation: 8.7%
Sales: 8.4%
Production: 8.0%
Office: 5.5%
Managerial: 2.2%
Professional: 2.2%

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, A Profile of the Working Poor, 2011 (PDF)

Asset Poverty Is Rising

One in five American households is asset poor, according to the Urban Institute. Asset poverty is defined as not having enough net worth (wealth) to survive for three months at the federal poverty level--or $5,580 in net worth for a family of four.

The percentage of households in asset poverty grew from 16.1 to 19.6 percent between 2007 and 2010. The asset poverty rate is highest among the youngest householders...

Asset poverty rate by age of householder, 2010
Under age 30: 43.2%
Aged 30 to 49: 29.3%
Aged 40 to 49: 19.9%
Aged 50 to 61: 13.4%
Aged 62 to 69: 8.7%
Aged 70-plus: 7.9%

Source: Urban Institute, U.S. Asset Poverty and the Great Recession

Households with Smokers

It is a well-known public health fact that 21 percent of Americans aged 18 or older smoke cigarettes. But here's a different way to look at the prevalence of smoking: what percentage of households include smokers?

According to the 2011 American Housing Survey, only 12 percent of the nation's households include smokers. But, not surprisingly, the percentage varies greatly by household characteristic. Sixteen percent of renter-occupied households include smokers compared with 10 percent of owner-occupied households. Among renter-occupied mobile homes, 29 percent have smokers--the highest percentage found in the survey.

By region, households with smokers are most common in the Midwest (15 percent) and least common in the West (7 percent). In the suburbs of metropolitan areas, 10 percent of households have smokers. The figure is a higher 13 percent in central cities and an even higher 15 percent in nonmetropolitan areas. Among households in poverty, 20 percent have smokers.

Source: Census Bureau, 2011 American Housing Survey

Poorest County: Ziebach, South Dakota

This morning the Census Bureau released 2010 poverty rates by county, with rankings of counties with the highest and lowest poverty rates. Ziebach County, South Dakota, has the highest poverty rate. More than half (50.1 percent) of its 2,817 residents are poor. Most of the county lies in the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation. Falls Church city, Virginia, has the lowest poverty rate. Only 3.1 percent of its 12,520 residents are poor. The independent city lies within the Washington, DC, metropolitan area.

Source: Census Bureau, 2010 Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates

The Huddled Masses

The number of Americans who are struggling to make ends meet with incomes between 100 and 150 percent of poverty level is huge. We know this because the New York Times asked the Census Bureau to run a special tabulation and apply the criteria of its new Supplemental Poverty Measure (see my post about the measure) to determine how many people were near poor under the SPM criteria. The criteria measure disposable income--adding food stamps and other government benefits to income, and subtracting taxes, health insurance, child care, and other costs from income. The Times published the results last week (see Older, Suburban, and Struggling, 'Near Poor' Startle the Census), and the Census Bureau has released a tabulation of the findings (see Special Tabulation of Supplemental Poverty Measure Estimates).

So just how big are the huddled masses? The number of people with incomes between 100 and 150 percent of poverty level jumps from the official 29 million (before benefits are added and costs deducted) to the SPM-adjusted figure of 51 million--a 76 percent increase. Even worse, as the Times reports, adding this number to the SPM estimate of 49 million people below poverty level, means that nearly one in three Americans is either in poverty or only a car breakdown or medical emergency away from being poor.

The New Poverty Measure

The poverty rate has long needed an update. The way the United States officially defines poverty has not changed since the methodology was developed in the early 1960s. At that time, the average household devoted one-third of its budget to food. The poverty threshold was set at three times the food spending required for a minimum diet and has remained unchanged since then except for annual cost-of-living adjustments.

The world has changed, however. The average household devotes a much smaller share of its budget to food and much more to housing, transportation, health care, and child care. The poverty population is still officially defined by its cash income, although many of the poor receive food stamps, housing subsidies, tax credits, and other benefits.

For years the National Academy of Sciences, the Census Bureau, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics have been working to create an updated measure of poverty. Now they have, and the result is called the Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM). How much does the modernized measure change the count of the poor? Actually, not much--which is somewhat reassuring. The percentage of people in poverty in 2010 climbs from the official 15.2 percent to a slightly higher 16.0 percent. The number of poor climbs from 46.6 million to 49.1 million. The 2010 poverty threshold for a four-person family with two adults and two children increases from $22,113 to $24,343.

Perhaps the most interesting change is this: blacks are no longer the poorest Americans. Their poverty rate in 2010 falls from the official 27.5 percent to 25.4 percent--a decline of more than 2 percentage points. Meanwhile, the Hispanic poverty rate climbs from the official 26.7 percent to 28.2 percent, making Hispanics the poorest Americans.

Because defining poverty is fraught with political drama, the SPM is not now and for the foreseeable future will not be the official poverty measure. According to the Census Bureau, "the SPM will be an additional macroeconomic statistic providing further understanding of economic conditions and trends."

Source: Census Bureau, The Research Supplemental Poverty Measure: 2010

Public Assistance Paradox

Most of the states in which households are least likely to receive public assistance are also the states that rank among the poorest in the nation, including Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, and South Carolina. In these states, the percentage of households receiving public assistance ranges from 1.6 to 1.9 percent--well below the 2.9 percent for the nation as a whole.

Note: Public assistance is defined as cash payments to the poor and does not include Food Stamps, Medicaid, subsidized housing, or other in-kind benefits.
Source: Census Bureau, Public Assistance Receipt in the Past 12 Months for Households: 2009 and 2010

The Security in Social Security

Percent of people aged 65 or older who are poor: 9.0%.
Percent of people aged 65 or older who would be poor without Social Security: 48%.

Source: Census Bureau, Effect of Benefits and Taxes on Income and Poverty

Welfare Queens Rule Very Tiny Kingdom

Percentage of Americans aged 15 or older who are on welfare: 0.96%

Source: Census Bureau