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Impoverished families tend to have less education

more health problems and less access to nutritionally adequate food

likely live in high-crime areas

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Poverty is the human condition of being unable to obtain or provide a standard level of food, water and/or shelter for you or your family.

It exists in every country to varying degrees and is unlikely to disappear any time soon. The United States is considered the richest country in the world, and yet 37.9 million (11.5%) of its residents live in poverty.

Poverty is measured in two ways - absolute poverty and relative poverty.

Absolute poverty looks at the goods and services someone (or a family) cannot obtain.

Relative poverty looks at the context of the need, how one social group compares to others.

The official method of calculating America's poverty levels was developed in the 1960s and has not been refined substantially since then. Critics maintain that the government overstates the U.S. poverty level because it counts people as impoverished who in generations past, would be considered as not living in poverty.

The highest poverty rate on record was 22% (1950s). The lowest was 10.5% (2019).

What Is the Definition of Poverty in America?

According to the U.S. Census Bureau's 2022 Current Population Report, 37.9 million Americans are considered impoverished. The census supplemental poverty rate, which adjusts for how government programs keep people out of poverty, was at 12.4% in 2022.

The poverty rate for American children was 12.4%, the lowest since 1973, and the rate for people 65 and older was 10.2%, up from 8.9% in 2019.
Among the most impoverished are:

Those living in female-headed households with no husband present (23%).

Young adults without a high school diploma (25.2%).

Those living in a family whose head of household is unemployed (30%).

Minorities (19.5% for Black people).

These numbers reflect a gradual decline from the higher rates of the COVID era. In 2019, pre-COVID, the poverty rate of 10.5% was the lowest since the statistic was first kept in 1959. The rate rose to 11.6% by 2021, then declined to 11.5% by 2022.

Columbia University's Center on Poverty & Social Policy estimated how the supplemental poverty rate changed on a monthly basis. Assessing the pre-covid rate at 15% (compared to the Census Bureau's 10.5%), the center said the poverty rate peaked at 17.3% in August 2020, falling to 16% two months later, but concluded it would have been much worse without extraordinary government intervention.

Poverty in the United States in 2023

The face of poverty for most Americans is pictures of families in rundown housing in large cities where the industry has moved away.

The true face of poverty, however, is found in rural areas of the South and Southwest regions of the U.S. where living conditions are even more run down and industry never really started up.

The states with the highest poverty rates (based on a three-year average, 2020-22) come from those two areas. The top, or bottom, 10 are:

1. New Mexico (18.2% of population living below the poverty line)

2. Mississippi (17.8%)

3. Louisiana (16.9%)

4. Arkansas (15.9%)

5. Kentucky (15.8%)

6. Oklahoma (15.8%)

7. West Virginia (15.6%)

8. Alabama (14.8%)

9. Texas (13.7%)

10. (tie) North Carolina (13.3%)
South Carolina (13.3%)

These areas have a long history of poverty and there are many factors contributing to it, but the most obvious are that they were agricultural economies first and foremost with light emphasis on education and innovation.

Absolute Poverty

Absolute poverty is a measure of the minimal requirements necessary to afford the minimal standards of life-sustaining essentials - food, clothing, shelter, clean water, sanitation, education and access to health care.

The standards are consistent over time and are the same in different countries. For example, one absolute measurement is the percentage of a population that consumes enough food daily to sustain the human body. This standard - 2,000 - 2,500 calories per day - is applied worldwide and across all cultures.
The World Bank defines poverty in absolute terms:

People anywhere in the world who are living on less than $1.90 per day are living in extreme poverty.

People living on less than $3.20 per day in lower middle-income countries and less than $5.50 in upper middle-income countries are living in moderate poverty.

For instance, in 2017, 6.5 million people in Europe and Central Asia lived in extreme poverty, compared with almost 431 million in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Relative Poverty

Relative poverty is a measurement of income inequality within a social context. It does not measure hardship or material deprivation, but rather the disparities of wealth among income groups.

For example, in the United States, a household that has a refrigerator, televisions, and air conditioning can be considered impoverished if its income falls below a certain threshold. In other countries, those households might be thought of as wealthy.

Poverty Levels Over Time

In the late 1950s, the poverty rate in the U.S. was approximately 22%, with just shy of 40 million Americans living in poverty. The rate declined steadily, reaching a low of 11.1% in 1973 and rising to a high of nearly 15% three times - in 1983, 1993 and 2011 - before hitting the all-time low of 10.5% in 2019. However, the 46.7 million Americans in poverty in 2014 was the most ever recorded.

Since the late 1960s, the poverty rate for people 65 or older has fallen dramatically. This drop could be ascribed to the enactment of the Medicare Program in 1965, which dramatically lowered out-of-pocket health care costs for this age group.

Since 1959, when the U.S. began recording data about poverty, the numbers reflect events, from legislation to military activity to pandemics. This chart shows those numbers.

Causes of Poverty in the United States

Impoverished families tend to have less education, more health problems and less access to nutritionally adequate food. They also are more likely to live in high-crime areas.

Education Levels

The more advanced one's education, the greater the chance of achieving a secure economic future. High school graduation rates for African American and Hispanic students are almost 20% lower than for other ethnic groups, while their poverty rates greatly exceed the average.

Without the knowledge and skills required for well-compensated work in the modern workplace, each succeeding generation of undereducated adults merely replaces the one before it without achieving any upward mobility or escape from poverty.

The Catch-22 is that educational opportunity can actually limit financial security because of student loans and student debt.

Access to Healthcare

Health is also strongly related to income. Poor people have higher mortality rates, a higher prevalence of acute or chronic diseases and more emotional and behavioral issues.

The life expectancy of the richest 1% in the U.S. was 14.6 years longer than the poorest 1% for men and 10.1 years for women, according to a 2016 report by the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Overall life expectancy in the U.S. was a surprisingly low 76.4 years as of early 2023. That's the lowest expectancy in over 20 years.

The mortality rate for African American infants (10.4 per 1,000 live births) was more than double that of white infants (4.4) in 2020, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Those in impoverished neighborhoods have a higher risk for mental illness, chronic disease, higher mortality, and lower life expectancy, according to the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion.

Poor children are more than twice as likely to have unhealthy levels of lead in their blood than other children, according to the CDC.

Access to Food

Food poverty is defined as the inability to obtain healthy and affordable food. Poorer families tend to have low intakes of fruit and vegetables and high intakes of junk food. They also tend to suffer more from cancer, diabetes, obesity, and heart disease.

While food insecurity and poverty are not the same, they are related. Food insecurity means that the availability of nutritionally adequate food, or the ability to acquire it, is limited or uncertain. In 2022, 12.8% of U.S. households experienced food insecurity, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Blacks and Hispanics were nearly twice as likely to face food insecurity as whites.

Crime

The relationship between poverty and crime is complex, and many factors are associated with poverty and crime, including unemployment, population density, high school dropout rate and incidence of drug use.

While difficult to quantify, some studies have indicated that as a particular population's poverty rate increases, crime, particularly violent crime, tends to increase, as well.

Government Programs That Lift or Help Keep People Out of Poverty

Government benefits keep millions of Americans out of poverty, mostly women, children and the elderly. Social Security alone keeps approximately 27.3 million people above the poverty line, including 17.9 million senior citizens 65 or older. Refundable tax credits, such as the Earned Income Tax Credit and the Child Tax Credit, kept 7.9 million people out of poverty, and food stamps have the same result for 3 million people.

If non-cash government aid programs were counted in the Census Bureau thresholds, food stamps would lift another 3.9 million Americans out of poverty. In addition, the combined Earned Income Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit kept 9.2 million families from falling into poverty in 2010.
Other government programs target aspects of poverty:

Community Services Block Grant

Head Start

Low-Income Home Energy Assistance

Medicaid

Medicare prescription drug coverage

Family planning services

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) (formerly known as food stamps)

Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC)

National School Lunch and Breakfast Programs

Legal services

Jobs Corps

Some state and local governments provide programs for the poor, as do some private companies and charities.

How U.S. Poverty Levels Compare to Countries Around the World

According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the United States has the highest poverty rate among the world's 26 most developed countries. The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) ranks the United States second behind Mexico on a scale of what economists call "relative child poverty" when measured against 35 of the world's richest nations.

These rankings are not absolute measures. Relative child poverty refers to a child living in a household where the income is less than half of the national median; the relative standards in the United States are high.

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U.S. Poverty Statistics and Facts (Updated for 2023)

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Learn about how poverty affects different demographics in the United States by looking at the most recent statistics and data.

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Failure of policy

minimum safety net

high cost of living

https://time.com/6320076/american-poverty-levels-state-by-state/

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Having discussed some of the structural impediments that lead to poverty (Module 6), we are in a much better position to understand why poverty is so much higher in the U.S. than in other industrialized countries. Regardless of how poverty is measured, the United States is at the high end when it comes to poverty and inequality. Whether we look at children's rates of poverty, poverty among working age adults, or poverty among single parent families, the story is the same. The U.S. has far and away the highest rates of poverty in the developed world. In addition, the extent of U.S. income and wealth inequality also tends to be extreme when compared to other industrialized countries.

A Failure of Policy

The question that arises is why is this so? Surely it is not because Americans fail to work hard. In fact, studies have shown that Americans tend to be at the top internationally in terms of the average number of hours worked per week. Rather, we would argue that in contrast to many other countries, the United States has failed to provide the kinds of policies and programs that are designed to prevent or reduce poverty. As the sociologist David Brady writes, "Societies make collective choices about how to divide their resources. These choices are acted upon in the organizations and states that govern the societies, and then become institutionalized through the welfare states. Where poverty is low, equality has been institutionalized. Where poverty is widespread, as most visibly demonstrated by the United States, there has been a failure to institutionalize equality."

In other words, those countries that are proactive in terms of ensuring that few families will fall below a minimum floor level, generally have much lower rates of poverty than those countries that take a more laissez-faire approach. Social policy can make a significant difference in reducing the extent of poverty across countries. Programs that are targeted to reduce inequalities and poverty, generally result in lower rates of poverty.

A Minimum Safety Net

Despite the popular rhetoric about vast amounts of tax dollars being spent on public assistance, the American welfare state, and particularly its social safety net, can be more accurately described in minimalist terms. Compared to other Western industrialized countries, the United States devotes far fewer resources to programs aimed at assisting the economically vulnerable. In fact, the U.S. allocates a smaller proportion of its GDP to social welfare programs than virtually any other industrialized country. As a result, the United States has often been described as being a "reluctant welfare state." The political scientist Charles Noble writes, "The U.S. welfare state is striking precisely because it is so limited in scope and ambition."

In contrast, most European countries and Canada provide a wide range of social insurance programs that largely prevent families from falling into poverty. These include substantial family or children's allowances, which are designed to transfer cash assistance to families with children. In addition, unemployment assistance is far more generous in these countries than in the United States. Furthermore, universal health coverage is routinely provided, along with considerable support for child care.

The result of these social policy differences is that they substantially reduce the extent of poverty in Europe and Canada, while American social policy exerts only a small impact upon poverty reduction. As economist Rebecca Blank notes, "The national choice in the United States to provide relatively less generous transfers to low-income families has meant higher relative poverty rates in the country. While low-income families in the United States work more than in many other countries, they are not able to make up for lower governmental income support relative to their European counterparts."

An interesting question to discuss and consider is why the U.S. devotes so little of its resources towards combating poverty? Specifically, why does the political will to address poverty appear lacking? Does it have to do with our belief in rugged individualism? What about the fact that America is diverse in terms of race and ethnicity? How might this work against fighting poverty? Do the poor constitute an important political force? Why or why not? These and many other questions can be discussed and thought about in seeking to understand our public policy response to poverty.

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Why is poverty higher in the U.S. than in other countries? - Confronting Poverty

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A Failure of Policy The question that arises is why is this so? Surely it is not because Americans fail to work hard. In fact, studies have shown that Americans tend to be at the top internationally in terms of the average number of hours worked per week.

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certain human rights are out of reach

education is hard to achieve

no access to healthcare

https://www.hrw.org/united-states/poverty-and-economic-inequality#:~:text=Poverty%20and%20economic%20inequality%20are,clean%20water%20and%20basic%20sanitation.

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U.S. Poverty Statistics and Facts (Updated for 2023)

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Learn about how poverty affects different demographics in the United States by looking at the most recent statistics and data.

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Research shows that medicaid helps pull families out of poverty by providing access to affordable health coverage and lowering out of pocket cost

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This week, I am reading studies about Medicaid's poverty-fighting effects. In 2016, about 13% of the population lived in poverty . Children continue to live disproportionately in poverty: children represent 23% of the population, but 33% of the population living in poverty. Increasing access to Medicaid for families may be one way to reduce poverty. Research shows that Medicaid helps pull families out of poverty by providing access to affordable health coverage and lowering out-of-pocket costs.
Health Affairs' Estimating The Effects Of Health Insurance And Other Social Programs On Poverty Under The Affordable Care Act
The authors developed the first health-inclusive poverty measure that factors in both the need for health insurance and the value of health benefits as resources to meet that need. They compare the impacts of different health insurance programs to non-health programs, such as social insurance, means-tested cash and in-kind benefits and refundable tax credits. They examine the population under age 65.
What It Finds

Medicaid is among the most effective antipoverty programs. Medicaid reduced the health inclusive poverty measure by 3.8 percentage points. This is comparable to the combined effect of all social insurance programs and greater than the effects of non-health means tested benefits and refundable tax credits.

Medicaid had a larger effect on child poverty than all non-health means tested benefits combined. It is estimated to reduce child poverty by 5.3 percentage points.

Medicaid is particularly important for people of color. It reduced the poverty rates of Hispanics by 6.1 percentage points and African Americans by 4.9 percentage points (in households with no disability recipients).

Health insurance benefits are important to families who receive them. Medicaid reduced poverty among its beneficiaries by 17.1 percentage points. This is higher than other types of insurance: ESI reduced poverty by 5 percentage points for those it covered and premium subsidies reduced poverty by 6.6 percentage points for those it covered.

Why It Matters

Public health insurance benefits (Medicaid, Medicare, and premium subsidies) are among the most important antipoverty programs. They account for almost one-third of the poverty reduction from public benefits for individuals in households without a disability recipient.

Though the standard measure of poverty may not show it, losing health insurance could throw many families into deep economic insecurity.

Health Affairs' Medicaid Versus Marketplace Coverage For Near-Poor Adults: Effects On Out-Of-Pocket Spending and Coverage
Researchers used CPS and ACS data to compare changes in out-of-pocket health spending and insurance coverage for the population between 100%-138% FPL in expansion and non-expansion states between 2010 and 2015. They found that Medicaid coverage in expansion states was more affordable and produced higher coverage rates than Marketplace coverage in non-expansion states.

The rate of uninsured adults decreased by 16.4 percentage points in Medicaid expansion states (from 35.2% to 18.8%) and 11.7 percentage points in non-expansion states (from 42.9% to 31.1%).

Average out-of-pocket spending decreased in expansion states by $42, from $1,014 to $972. It increased in non-expansion states by $326, from $1,086 to $1,412.

Medicaid expansion was associated with a 4.1-percentage-point reduction in the probability of having a high total out-of-pocket spending burden and a 7.7-percentage-point reduction in the probability of having any out-of-pocket spending.

The authors suggest that substituting Marketplace coverage instead of Medicaid coverage could lower coverage rates and increase out-of-pocket expenses.

Results from this study suggest that Medicaid enrollees are better shielded from financial risk than Marketplace enrollees.

Journal of Health Economics' The Poverty -Reducing Effect of Medicaid
This 2013 study estimated the impact of eliminating Medicaid using the Census Bureau's supplemental poverty measure and CPS data on out-of-pocket costs. The authors estimate the impact of eliminating Medicaid coverage by modeling out-of-pocket costs comparing two scenarios: the status quo and a scenario where this is no Medicaid. Under the second scenario, individuals enrolled in Medicaid are either uninsured or enrolled in different coverage.

Medicaid kept at least 2.6 million individuals out of poverty in 2010, making it the third largest anti-poverty program in the country behind the EITC and SNAP.

Medicaid reduced out-of-pocket medical spending per enrollee by more than half, from $871 to $376.

The poverty-reducing effects were greatest for adults with disabilities, the elderly children, and racial/ethnic minorities.

This study was conducted before the ACA and the authors believe that Medicaid's poverty-reducing role would likely increase after the ACA.

Related Posts

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Research Update: Medicaid Pulls Americans Out of Poverty, Updated Edition

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This week, I am reading studies about Medicaid's poverty-fighting effects. In 2016, about 13% of the population lived in poverty. Children continue to live disproportionately in poverty: children r...

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These meals help to combat hunger, malnutrition, and poverty by providing vital nutrition, promoting school attendance and ongoing learning, and supporting long-term health and well-being

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Growling stomachs, fatigue and brain fog: Every day, millions of kids around the world go to school on empty stomachs. For many, a school meal is the only food they have each day.

"We know that a hungry child cannot learn, a hungry child cannot grow and a hungry child cannot reach their full potential," says World Food Program USA CEO Baron Segar. "It's our responsibility to make sure that over 15 million schoolchildren, every single year, have a daily meal so that they can stay in school."

Nutritious food is essential not only for a child's healthy growth, but for their academic performance as well. For impoverished families around the world, school meals help keep children in the classroom rather than working at home or entering early marriages. Children can then continue their education and secure a future for themselves, their families and communities.

Let's explore how school meals and the work of United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) help break the cycle of poverty.
Related Articles
Good Nutrition Improves Child Development and Academic Performance

It takes a lot of energy to think. In fact, around 20% of our daily calories are used as fuel for our brains. Some studies tell us that more challenging cognitive work burns more calories.

For a child's brain to develop, they need a host of essential nutrients, from the right balance of protein, fats and carbohydrates to vitamins, minerals and water. Micronutrients like iron, zinc, choline, iodine, folate, B12, and healthy fats are also vital to cognitive development and learning.

Without the right nutrition, children's healthy development is put at risk. Nutrient shortages can reduce brain cell production, impact cell size and complexity and even lead to less efficient communication between brain cells. This could result in slower language development, impaired fined motor skills and lower IQ, all of which causes negative impacts on a child's life in and out of the classroom

The right balance of nutrients during the early stages of life is critical for brain development, promoting cognitive development long into adult years.

Child Malnutrition Is Harmful to Health, Academics and Well-Being

Today, 45 million kids are suffering from severe malnutrition. Without treatment, they could experience delayed cognitive development, which can hurt their academic performance in the years to come.

School meals are a vital intervention for children's healthy development. Yet, 73 million children in primary school living in extreme poverty don't have access to school meals.

When kids don't have access to food at school, it leads to a vicious cycle of hunger, school absences and poverty. There are millions of children - particularly girls - who don't go to school because their families need them to help in the fields, take care of siblings or perform domestic duties. In war-torn countries, kids are twice as likely to be out of school than their peers in stable countries. This rises to 2.5 times more likely for girls. When kids miss school, they miss out on important developmental milestones such as understanding basic math concepts or reading and writing skills

"A daily meal serves as a very, very strong incentive for families to keep sending their children to school," Segar said. "But by providing those meals for kids, we see around a 9% increase in enrollment (12% for girls)."

WFP School Meals Save Lives and Improve Futures

Nutritious school meals can transform a child's life. These meals help to combat hunger, malnutrition and poverty by providing vital nutrition, promoting school attendance and ongoing learning, and supporting long-term health and well-being. School meals also boost attendance and graduation rates by giving students the nutrition they need to stay healthy, strong and focused on their studies.

The U.N. World Food Programme helps keep millions of kids in the classroom and focused on their lessons by providing nutritious school meals, snacks and take-home ingredients. We're the world's largest provider of school meals, reaching more than 20 million children in 59 countries around the world.

School meals: Increase school enrollment and attendance: In Bangladesh, nutrient fortified biscuits have improved school enrollment by 14.2% and reduced the probability of drop-outs by 7.5%. In Madagascar, attendance rates increased from 88% to 98% over two years after the introduction of take-home rations.

Improve children's focus: In South Sudan, 13-year-old Joyce wants to be a pilot when she grows up. "I like going to school because I like to learn and be with my friends," she says. "I like the food here because it helps me learn better."

Reduce financial burdens: James is another student at Joyce's school. He hopes to become a doctor one day. "I lost my father, and my family doesn't have a lot of money," he says. "So, I work as a boda boda (motorcycle) driver to pay for my education and support my family." A daily school lunch for James and his siblings means one less meal for him to worry about paying for every day.

The Impact of School Meals on Poverty and Social Change

School meals help to alleviate poverty and offset social norms that keep young girls out of the classroom. The value of a school meal is equivalent to about 10% of a household's income. That means parents can save their money for other pressing needs. These savings also motivate parents to send their children, including girls, to school each day.

In Cambodia, with clouds of red dust in their wake, 14-year-old Heng Ouy and her 12-year-old sister Sheya ride their second-hand bicycles to school every morning. Their parents had to put five months of savings towards buying each bike. Money is tight at home, so a school-provided breakfast Hengy Ouy and Shreya receive every day is of enormous help to their family. "I want to be a teacher when I grow up," says Heng Ouy. "I want to help my parents, so they no longer have to struggle."

"Everywhere we implement school feeding, we see that disproportionately girls stay in school for longer," says Carmen Burbano de Lara, director of the school feeding division at the U.N. World Food Programme's headquarters in Rome. "The longer a girl stays in school, the less likely she is to marry or have children very early in life, which gives her a better start."

School meals programs can strengthen local economies. Through the U.N. World Food Programme's homegrown school meals program, the ingredients for school meals are sourced from small-scale farmers. This boosts economies and combats poverty by increasing farmers' incomes. Every dollar invested in school meals yields up to $10 in economic return for the communities we serve.

School Meals Can Empower a Generation

Well-nourished and educated children are better equipped to grow up to find work, become leaders in their communities and raise their own families. By continuing their studies, staying in school and avoiding the irreversible effects of childhood malnutrition, kids develop the cognitive, physical and social abilities to build healthy and productive lives for themselves and their communities.

With something as simple and crucial as school meals, we're empowering the next generation of doctors, scientists, inventors, teachers, artists, leaders and more.
Learn more about school meals Learn more about child malnutrition Businesses: Join the Erase Hunger campaign

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The Effects of Child Nutrition on Academic Performance: How School Meals Can Break the Cycle of Poverty - World Food Program USA

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Nutritious food is essential a child's healthy growth and their academic performance. For impoverished families around the world, school meals help keep children in the classroom and secure a future for themselves, their families and communities.

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Children who attend school also gain knowledge and skill, often at a higher level than those who didn't attend school. They can use those skill to earn a higher income and build successful lives

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How does education affect poverty? It can help end it.

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A high-quality primary education is a globally-recognized solution to the cycle of poverty. Here are 7 reasons why.