Library Index :: Social Issues & Debate Topics :: The Poor in Developed Countries - Characteristics Of Poverty In Wealthy Countries, The United States, Western Europe: Poverty In The United Kingdom And Germany
 

The Poor in Developed Countries - The United States

At 12.7% in 2004 (up from 12.5% in 2003), the United States has the highest poverty rate in the developed world (U.S. Census Bureau, Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2004, August 2005). (See Table 6.1.) Poverty in the United States is strongly connected to race and ethnicity. African Americans, Hispanic Americans, and American Indians and Alaska natives were three times more likely to live in poverty than white Americans. (See Table 6.2.)

At the same time, the gap between the rich and the poor continues to grow. Income statistics from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities show that the poor are separated from the upper class by an especially wide margin in certain U.S. states, including Arizona, New York, Tennessee, and Texas. (See Table 6.3.) The United States is home to the greatest number of billionaires: 374 of the world's 691 billionaires were from the United States, according to Forbes magazine's 2005 list of the richest people in the world. Scott Klinger addressed this disparity on the AlterNet Web site in "The Cavernous Divide" (http://www.alternet.org/story/21544 March 21, 2005). Klinger argues that low corporate taxes, government investment of public money into technology that benefits the upper classes, and a stagnant minimum wage help to explain the chasm between rich and poor in the United States, with Wal-Mart serving as a prime example:

Some billionaires' fortunes rest upon paying their employees poverty wages. Such is the case for the Walton family (numbers 10 through 14 on the Forbes list.) Wal-Mart is the largest private employer in the world. Many of its U.S. workers are so poorly paid that they must rely on food stamps and other forms of public assistance to get by. Such forms of government aid represent an indirect government subsidy to corporations whose business model does not include paying employees enough to live on.

In his article "37 Million Hidden in the Land of Plenty" (London Guardian, February 19, 2006), Paul Harris observes that the majority of America's poor do work regularly, but low wages and a lack of benefits keep them in relative poverty: "Even families with two working parents are often one slice of bad luck—a medical bill or factory closure—away from disaster. The minimum wage of $5.15 an hour has not risen since 1997 and, adjusted for inflation, is at its lowest since 1956." Harris also points to the social problems associated with being poor in the United States: "In America, to be poor is a stigma. In a country which celebrates individuality and the goal of giving everyone an equal opportunity to make it big, those in poverty are often blamed for their own situation."

Amy K. Glasmeier, a professor of economic geography at Pennsylvania State University and author of An Atlas of Poverty in America: One Nation, Pulling Apart, 1960–2003 (Routledge, 2005), calls poverty America's "dirty little secret":

The lack of concern about people who fail to make sufficient income to live above the poverty line (which is $19,157 for a family of four) "occurs" because in many ways poverty in America is all but invisible…. Poor people do not want to stand out from the general population. Instead, they make every effort to be like the rest of us by working full time and attempting to provide for themselves and their families.

According to Glasmeier, part of the problem is the way poverty is measured in the United States, and many other researchers and economists agree. In "Calculating Poverty in U.S. Fuels Debate" (Associated Press, February 21, 2006), Stephen Ohlemacher explains that because the poverty threshold measurement was created in the 1960s and has only been updated to reflect inflation, "a single parent making $13,000 a year is living above the poverty line, while someone with a $1 million house who takes a year off work to travel the world could be below it." The measurement does not take into consideration such non-cash income factors as food stamps and health and housing benefits, and the calculation is based on income before taxes, not after. Non-income assets such as houses also are not counted, nor are regional cost-of-living differences.

Glasmeier adds that the cost-of-living estimates upon which the poverty threshold depends are inaccurate to begin with. She argues that a family of four can acquire basic necessities on the $19,000 per year poverty cut-off in only a few of the country's 3,100 counties. As an example Glasmeier cites Tunica, Mississippi, considered the poorest city in the United States, claiming that a family of four would need a minimum of $27,000 per year to afford the basics there.

Reporter Anna Bernasek, writing in the New York Times ("A Poverty Line That's Out of Date and Out of Favor," March 12, 2006), contends that the main reason the U.S. poverty threshold measurement has not been updated since its inception is that presidents, not economists or statisticians, are responsible for providing the definition of poverty. Changes to the calculation of the poverty threshold being proposed by the National Academy of Sciences would likely add about five million Americans to the ranks of the poor. Bernasek suggests that this new calculation is unpopular in Washington because a rise in the official number of poor Americans may be perceived as a policy failure by the public.

What Poverty Looks Like in the United States

What does it mean to be poor in the United States? In December 2005 the conservative Economist magazine published "The Mountain Man and the Surgeon: Reflections on Relative Poverty in North America and

TABLE 6.1 People and families in poverty by selected characteristics, United States, 2003 and 2004 "Table 3. People and Families in Poverty by Selected Characteristics: 2003 and 2004," in Current Population Reports, U.S. Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2005, http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/poverty/poverty04/table3.pdf (accessed April 10, 2006)

TABLE 6.1
People and families in poverty by selected characteristics, United States, 2003 and 2004
[Numbers in thousands. People as of March of the following year.]
Characteristic 2003 below poverty 2004 below poverty Change in poverty (2004 less 2003)a
Number Percentage Number Percentage Number Percentage
—Represents zero or rounds to zero.
aDetails may not sum to totals because of rounding.
bFederal surveys now give respondents the option of reporting more than one race. Therefore, two basic ways of defining a race group are possible. A group such as Asian may be defined as those who reported Asian and no other race (the race-alone or single-race concept) or as those who reported Asian regardless of whether they also reported another race (the race-alone-or-in-combination concept). This table shows data using the first approach (race alone). The use of the single-race population does not imply that it is the preferred method of presenting or analyzing data. The Census Bureau uses a variety of approaches. About 2.6 percent of people reported more than one race in Census 2000.
SOURCE: "Table 3. People and Families in Poverty by Selected Characteristics: 2003 and 2004," in Current Population Reports, U.S. Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2005, http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/poverty/poverty04/table3.pdf (accessed April 10, 2006)
People
   Total 35,861 12.5 36,997 12.7 1,136 0.3
Family status
In families 25,684 10.8 26,564 11.0 879 0.3
   Householder 7,607 10.0 7,854 10.2 247 0.2
   Related children under 18 12,340 17.2 12,460 17.3 120 0.1
      Related children under 6 4,654 19.8 4,737 19.9 84 0.1
In unrelated subfamilies 464 38.6 570 45.4 106 6.8
   Reference person 191 37.6 235 45.4 44 7.9
   Children under 18 271 41.7 314 46.5 43 4.8
Unrelated individual 9,713 20.4 9,864 20.5 151 0.1
   Male 4,154 18.0 4,284 18.3 130 0.3
   Female 5,559 22.6 5,580 22.5 21 −0.1
Raceb and Hispanic origin
White 24,272 10.5 25,301 10.8 1,029 0.4
   White, not Hispanic 15,902 8.2 16,870 8.6 968 0.5
Black 8,781 24.4 9,000 24.7 219 0.3
Asian 1,401 11.8 1,209 9.8 −192 −2.0
Hispanic origin (any race) 9,051 22.5 9,132 21.9 81 −0.6
Age
Under 18 years 12,866 17.6 13,027 17.8 161 0.2
18 to 64 years 19,443 10.8 20,514 11.3 1,071 0.5
65 years and older 3,552 10.2 3,457 9.8 −95 −0.4
Nativity
Native 29,965 11.8 30,991 12.1 1,027 0.3
Foreign born 5,897 17.2 6,006 17.1 109 −0.1
   Naturalized citizen 1,309 10.0 1,328 9.8 19 −0.1
   Not a citizen 4,588 21.7 4,678 21.6 91 −0.1
Region
Northeast 6,052 11.3 6,233 11.6 181 0.3
Midwest 6,932 10.7 7,538 11.6 606 0.9
South 14,548 14.1 14,798 14.1 249 —
West 8,329 12.6 8,429 12.6 100 —
Work experience
All workers (16 years and older) 8,820 5.8 9,383 6.1 563 0.3
   Worked full-time, year-round 2,636 2.6 2,896 2.8 259 0.2
   Not full-time, year-round 6,183 12.2 6,487 12.8 304 0.7
Did not work at least one week 15,446 21.5 15,845 21.7 400 0.2
Families
   Total 7,607 10.0 7,854 10.2 247 0.2
Type of family
Married couple 3,115 5.4 3,222 5.5 107 0.1
   Female householder, no husband present 3,856 28.0 3,973 28.4 117 0.4
Male householder, no wife present 636 13.5 658 13.5 22 —

Africa," which compared the lives of an unemployed truck driver in the coal mining industry of eastern Kentucky's Appalachian region (which has a poverty rate of 24.5%) with a doctor in the Democratic Republic of Congo in Africa. The article noted that, with incomes of $521 and $250-$600 per month respectively, the two men are roughly in the same income bracket, yet the American truck driver is considered desperately poor while the Congolese doctor is viewed as quite well-off relative to the rest of his country. In the United States the TABLE 6.2 Poverty rates and numbers, by race and Hispanic origin, United States, 2002–04 "Table 4. Number of Poverty and Poverty Rates by Race and Hispanic Origin Using 2- and 3-Year Averages: 2002 to 2004," in Current Population Reports, U.S. Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2005, http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/poverty/poverty04/table4.pdf (accessed April 10, 2006)median annual income in 2004 was $44,389, whereas in Congo the annual average income is $673, and even basic utilities like running water and electricity are rare. By contrast, more often than not, impoverished American families have at least one television in their home, their children usually attend school, they typically do not have to grow their own food to survive, and in general they may look like everyone else.

TABLE 6.2
Poverty rates and numbers, by race and Hispanic origin, United States, 2002–04
[Numbers in thousands. People as of March of the following year.]
Racea and Hispanic origin 3-year average 2002–2004 2-year average Change in poverty (2003–2004 average less 2002–2003 average)b
2002–2003 2003–2004
Estimate Estimate Estimate Estimate
—Represents zero or rounds to zero.
a Federal surveys now give respondents the option of reporting more than one race. Therefore, two basic ways of defining a race group are possible. A group such as Asian may be defined as those who reported Asian and no other race (the race-alone or single-race concept) or as those who reported Asian regardless of whether they also reported another race (the race-alone-or-in-combination concept). This table shows data using the first approach (race alone). The use of the single-race population does not imply that it is the preferred method of presenting or analyzing data. The Census Bureau uses a variety of approaches. About 2.6 percent of people reported more than one race in Census 2000.
bDetails may not sum to totals because of rounding
SOURCE: "Table 4. Number of Poverty and Poverty Rates by Race and Hispanic Origin Using 2- and 3-Year Averages: 2002 to 2004," in Current Population Reports, U.S. Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2005, http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/poverty/poverty04/table4.pdf (accessed April 10, 2006)
Percentage
All races 12.4 12.3 12.6    0.3*
White 10.5 10.3 10.6    0.3*
    White, not Hispanic 8.3 8.1 8.4    0.3*
Black 24.4 24.3 24.6    0.3
American Indian and Alaska Native 24.3 23.9 24.4    0.5
Asian 10.6 10.9 10.8   −0.1
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander 13.2 14.4 12.9   −1.5
Hispanic origin(any race) 22.1 22.1 22.2    —
Number
Allraces 35,809 35,216 36,429 1,214*
White 24,346 23,869 24,786   917*
    White, not Hispanic 16,113 15,735 16,386   651*
Black 8,794 8,691 8,891   199
American Indian and Alaska Native 554 540 557    17
Asian 1,257 1,281 1,305    24
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander 92 106 84   −22
Hispanic origin(any race) 8,913 8,803 9,092   289*

While U.S. poverty is certainly different in nature relative to poverty in the developing world, there are some similarities. For instance, some people in the United States experience persistent poverty, living without basic utilities, safe drinking water, and sanitation even in the twenty-first century. Although the majority of Americans—even many of those living below the poverty threshold—manage to afford items such as televisions, a rising number of households have trouble affording food at least once during a given year. This kind of food insecurity is a major indicator of the state of poverty in the United States. Another more visibly extreme indicator of American poverty is homelessness. As the twenty-first century progresses, both of these situations—food insecurity and homelessness—are occurring with more and more frequency throughout the United States.

FOOD INSECURITY

In developing countries hunger is often extreme enough to cause fatal malnutrition. Although hunger in the United States is not as visible, it does result in chronic under-nutrition, which can lead to numerous physical and psychological problems as well as learning disabilities in children. According to the nonprofit organization Food Research and Action Center (FRAC), 11.9% of households (13.5 million—38.2 million people) in the United States were food insecure in 2004; 4.4 million of those were suffering from hunger. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Economic Research Service (USDA-ERS) report Household Food Security in the United States, 2004 (Mark Nord, Margaret Andrews, and Steven Carlson, October 2005) found that 20% of households experiencing food insecurity sought emergency aid from a food pantry at some point during 2004. For about 30% of those experiencing food insecurity with hunger, the condition was chronic, meaning that it occurred in almost every month of the year.

The USDA-ERS reports that, in food-insecure households in the United States in 2004, children appear to have been protected from hunger in most cases, with adults cutting back on their own food intake in order to continue feeding their children. Nonetheless, approximately 274,000 U.S. households reported that they had at least one child who had to go hungry at least one day during the year. Although the overall rate of food insecurity and food insecurity with hunger increased between 2003 and 2004—from 11.2% to 11.9% and from 3.5% to TABLE 6.3 Top ten U.S. states for selected income inequality measures, early 1980s to early 2000s Jared Bernstein, Elizabeth McNichol, and Karen Lyons, "Table A. Top Ten States for Selected Income Inequality Measures," in Pulling Apart: A State-by-State Analysis of Income Trends, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Economic Policy Institute, January 2006, http://www.cbpp.org/1-26-06sfp.pdf (accessed April 10, 2006)3.9%, respectively—the rates for children have remained in the 0.5% to 0.7% range since 1999. Still, households with children had almost twice the rate of food insecurity as households without children: 17.6% versus 8.9%. (See Table 6.4 and Table 6.5 for information on the prevalence of food security, food insecurity, and food insecurity with hunger in 2004; see Figure 6.1 for comparisons of food insecurity during 2003 and 2004.)

TABLE 6.3
Top ten U.S. states for selected income inequality measures, early 1980s to early 2000s
SOURCE: Jared Bernstein, Elizabeth McNichol, and Karen Lyons, "Table A. Top Ten States for Selected Income Inequality Measures," in Pulling Apart: A State-by-State Analysis of Income Trends, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Economic Policy Institute, January 2006, http://www.cbpp.org/1-26-06sfp.pdf (accessed April 10, 2006)
Greatest income inequality between the top and the bottom, early 2000s Greatest income inequality between the top and the middle, early 2000s
  1. New York
  2. Texas
  3. Tennessee
  4. Arizona
  5. Florida
  6. California
  7. Louisiana
  8. Kentucky
  9. New Jersey
  10. North Carolina
  1. Texas
  2. Kentucky
  3. Florida
  4. Arizona
  5. Tennessee
  6. New York
  7. Pennsylvania
  8. North Carolina
  9. New Mexico
  10. California
Greatest increases in income inequality between the top and the bottom, early 1980s to early 2000s Greatest increases in income inequality between the top and the middle, early 1980s to early 2000s
  1. Arizona
  2. New York
  3. Massachusetts
  4. Tennessee
  5. New Jersey
  6. West Virginia
  7. Connecticut
  8. Hawaii
  9. Kentucky
  10. South Carolina
  1. Kentucky
  2. Pennsylvania
  3. West Virginia
  4. Indiana
  5. Hawaii
  6. Texas
  7. Tennessee
  8. North Carolina
  9. Arizona
  10. New York
Greatest increases in income inequality between the top and the bottom, early 1990s to early 2000s Greatest increases in income inequality between the top and the middle, early 1990s to early 2000s
  1. Tennessee
  2. Connecticut
  3. Washington
  4. North Carolina
  5. Utah
  6. Texas
  7. West Virginia
  8. Pennsylvania
  9. Florida
  10. Maine
  1. Kentucky
  2. Pennsylvania
  3. North Carolina
  4. Indiana
  5. Tennessee
  6. Texas
  7. West Virginia
  8. Vermont
  9. New Jersey
  10. Connecticut

Overall, according to the USDA-ERS report, households made up of people older than sixty-five with no children present experienced the lowest rates of food insecurity (6.5%), and households in which all adults were younger than sixty-five and no children were present had the second lowest rate (6.7%). Several household characteristics serve as indicators of high-risk populations—populations with food insecurity and/or hunger rates well above the national average. The report indicates that families with incomes below the poverty threshold were particularly vulnerable, with 36.8% of them experiencing food insecurity and/or hunger at some point during the year. Single-parent households, especially those headed by women, also saw very high rates of food insecurity: 33% for households headed by a single female and 22.2% for households headed by a single male. African-American and Hispanic households also had rates of about twice the national average, at 23.7% and 21.7%, respectively. (See Figure 6.1.)

HOMELESSNESS

There are many factors that can lead to a person becoming homeless in the United States: unemployment or underemployment, mental illness, drug or alcohol addiction, a lack of family support, poor education, and failed social services are among the most frequent. However, the root cause is poverty. An overwhelming majority of homeless people, for whatever reason, cannot afford adequate permanent housing.

A joint study by the National Coalition on the Homeless and the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty (A Dream Denied: The Criminalization of Homelessness in U.S. Cities, January 2006) cites a survey from the U.S. Conference of Mayors that reported a 6% increase in requests for emergency shelter in 71% of cities from 2004 to 2005; 14% of these emergency requests could not be met because of a shortage of shelters, and 32% of requests from families were left unmet. Overall, approximately 3.5 million Americans are homeless at some point every year. Nevertheless, the study reports that the enactment of laws "criminalizing" homelessness is also on the rise, including statutes that establish curfews or that outlaw panhandling, public sleeping, loitering, or outdoor feeding (which limits the ability of churches and charities to provide meals).

The National Alliance to End Homelessness's (NAEH) report Family Homelessness in Our Nation and Community: A Problem with a Solution (2005) notes that on any given night, approximately 100,000 American families are homeless, and 600,000 families experience homelessness for at least one night every year. About 50% of homeless people live in families; 70% of them live in urban areas, 19% in suburbs, and 11% in rural areas. Characteristics of homeless families include extreme poverty (an average income of about $5,000 annually); low education levels; single parenthood; unemployment; children under the age of five; and a lack of social support from family and friends. Homeless families also tend to be headed by young parents, and nationwide 43% are estimated to be African American.

The NAEH identifies a lack of affordable housing as the primary reason families become homeless, adding that since the 1970s a low-income housing surplus has turned into a severe deficit: "In 1971 there were 300,000 more affordable units than there were low-income TABLE 6.4 Prevalence of food security, food insecurity, and food insecurity with hunger, by selected household characteristics, United States, 2004 Mark Nord, Margaret Andrews, and Steven Carlson, "Table 2. Prevalence of Food Security, Food Insecurity, and Food Insecurity with Hunger by Selected Household Characteristics, 2004," in Household Food Security in the United States, 2004, Economic Research Report No. 11, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, October 2005, http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/err11/err11.pdf (accessed April 10, 2006)families who needed them; in 2001 there were 4.7 million fewer units than families. Today, for every 100 low-income or poor households that need housing, only 75 units are affordable." Higher-cost housing forces families to choose between paying rent and buying other necessities such as food, which in turn leads to food insecurity.

TABLE 6.4
Prevalence of food security, food insecurity, and food insecurity with hunger, by selected household characteristics, United States, 2004
Category
Food insecure
Totala Food secure All Without hunger With hunger
1,000 1,000 Percent 1,000 Percent 1,000 Percent 1,000 Percent
aTotals exclude households whose food security status is unknown because they did not give a valid response to any of the questions in the food security scale. In 2004, these represented 404,000 households (0.4 percent of all households).
bHouseholds with children in complex living arrangements—e.g., children of other relatives or unrelated roommate or boarder.
cHispanics may be of any race.
dMetropolitan area residence is based on 2003 Office of Management and Budget delineation. Prevalence rates by area of residence are not precisely comparable with those of previous years.
eHouseholds within incorporated areas of the largest cities in each metropolitan area. Residence inside or outside of principal cities is not identified for about 17 percent of households in metropolitan statistical areas.
SOURCE: Mark Nord, Margaret Andrews, and Steven Carlson, "Table 2. Prevalence of Food Security, Food Insecurity, and Food Insecurity with Hunger by Selected Household Characteristics, 2004," in Household Food Security in the United States, 2004, Economic Research Report No. 11, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, October 2005, http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/err11/err11.pdf (accessed April 10, 2006)
All households 112,967 99,473 88.1 13,494 11.9 9,045 8.0 4,449 3.9
Household composition:
With children <18 39,990 32,967 82.4 7,023 17.6 5,311 13.3 1,712 4.3
    With children <6 17,922 14,606 81.5 3,316 18.5 2,573 14.4 743 4.1
    Married-couple families 27,065 23,926 88.4 3,139 11.6 2,509 9.3 630 2.3
    Female head, no spouse 9,641 6,459 67.0 3,182 33.0 2,291 23.8 891 9.2
    Male head, no spouse 2,693 2,096 77.8 597 22.2 428 15.9 169 6.3
    Other household with childb 592 487 82.3 105 17.7 83 14.0 22 3.7
With no children <18 72,977 66,506 91.1 6,471 8.9 3,734 5.1 2,737 3.8
    More than one adult 43,177 40,278 93.3 2,899 6.7 1,834 4.2 1,065 2.5
    Women living alone 17,012 15,010 88.2 2,002 11.8 1,084 6.4 918 5.4
    Men living alone 12,788 11,219 87.7 1,569 12.3 816 6.4 753 5.9
With elderly 26,202 24,510 93.5 1,692 6.5 1,227 4.7 465 1.8
    Elderly living alone 10,693 9,911 92.7 782 7.3 517 4.8 265 2.5
Race/ethnicity of households:
White non-Hispanic 81,388 74,383 91.4 7,005 8.6 4,632 5.7 2,373 2.9
Black non-Hispanic 13,509 10,303 76.3 3,206 23.7 2,108 15.6 1,098 8.1
Hispanicc 12,014 9,404 78.3 2,610 21.7 1,903 15.8 707 5.9
Other 6,056 5,382 88.9 674 11.1 403 6.7 271 4.5
Household income-to-poverty ratio:
Under 1.00 13,347 8,438 63.2 4,909 36.8 3,098 23.2 1,811 13.6
Under 1.30 18,367 12,118 66.0 6,249 34.0 3,994 21.7 2,255 12.3
Under 1.85 28,081 19,700 70.2 8,381 29.8 5,443 19.4 2,938 10.5
1.85 and over 63,575 60,138 94.6 3,437 5.4 2,443 3.8 994 1.6
Income unknown 21,311 19,636 92.1 1,675 7.9 1,158 5.4 517 2.4
Area of residenced:
Inside metropolitan area 92,474 81,661 88.3 10,813 11.7 7,246 7.8 3,567 3.9
    In principal citiese 30,312 25,650 84.6 4,662 15.4 3,114 10.3 1,548 5.1
    Not in principal cities 46,444 42,279 91.0 4,165 9.0 2,865 6.2 1,300 2.8
Outside metropolitan area 20,492 17,811 86.9 2,681 13.1 1,799 8.8 882 4.3
Census geographic region:
Northeast 21,038 19,006 90.3 2,032 9.7 1,430 6.8 602 2.9
Midwest 25,957 23,126 89.1 2,831 10.9 1,889 7.3 942 3.6
South 41,157 35,693 86.7 5,464 13.3 3,605 8.8 1,859 4.5
West 24,815 21,648 87.2 3,167 12.8 2,121 8.5 1,046 4.2

Another possible consequence of family homelessness is that children may be placed into the state-run foster care system. According to the NAEH report, 30% of children in foster care have parents who are homeless or in an unstable housing situation; in addition, people who have spent time in the foster care system as children are more likely to become homeless as adults, meaning homeless-ness becomes a continuing cycle over generations.

The National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty's publication Educating Homeless Children and Youth: The 2005 Guide to Their Rights notes that at least 1.35 million school-age American children (representing 10% of all poor children in the United States) are homeless every year. Homelessness presents an especially difficult problem for children, who often have a hard time attending school regularly and performing successfully if they do attend. The U.S. Department of Education reported in 2000 that only 77% of homeless children who are enrolled in school attend regularly, although 87% are enrolled.

TABLE 6.5 Prevalence of food security, food insecurity, and food insecurity with hunger in households with children, by selected household characteristics, United States, 2004 Mark Nord, Margaret Andrews, and Steven Carlson, "Table 3. Prevalence of Food Security, Food Insecurity, and Food Insecurity with Hunger in Households with Children by Selected Household Characteristics, 2004," in Household Food Security in the United States, 2004, Economic Research Report No. 11, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, October 2005, http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/err11/err11.pdf (accessed April 10, 2006)

TABLE 6.4
Prevalence of food security, food insecurity, and food insecurity with hunger, by selected household characteristics, United States, 2004
Category
Food in secure
Totala Food secure All Without hunger among children With hunger among children
1,000 1,000 Percent 1,000 Percent 1,000 Percent 1,000 Percent
aTotals exclude households whose food security status is unknown because they did not give a valid response to any of the questions in the food security scale. In 2004, these represented 144,000 households with children (0.4 percent).
bHouseholds with children in complex living arrangements—e.g., children of other relatives or unrelated roommate or boarder.
cHispanics may be of any race.
dMetropolitan area residence is based on 2003 Office of Management and Budget delineation. Prevalence rates by area of residence are not precisely comparable with those of previous years.
eHouseholds within incorporated areas of the largest cities in each metropolitan area. Residence inside or outside of principal cities is not identified for about 17 percent of households in metropolitan statistical areas.
SOURCE: Mark Nord, Margaret Andrews, and Steven Carlson, "Table 3. Prevalence of Food Security, Food Insecurity, and Food Insecurity with Hunger in Households with Children by Selected Household Characteristics, 2004," in Household Food Security in the United States, 2004, Economic Research Report No. 11, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, October 2005, http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/err11/err11.pdf (accessed April 10, 2006)
All households with children 39,990 32,967 82.4 7,023 17.6 6,749 16.9 274 0.7
Household composition:
With children <6 17,922 14,606 81.5 3,316 18.5 3,240 18.1 76 .4
Married-couple families 27,065 23,926 88.4 3,139 11.6 3.036 11.2 103 .4
Female head, no spouse 9,641 6,459 67.0 3,182 33.0 3.037 31.5 145 1.5
Male head, no spouse 2,693 2,095 77.8 598 22.2 577 21.4 21 .8
Other household with childb 592 487 82.3 105 17.7 100 16.9 5 .8
Race/ethnicity of households:
White non-Hispanic 25,117 21,929 87.3 3,188 12.7 3,077 12.3 111 .4
Black non-Hispanic 5,653 4,001 70.8 1,652 29.2 1,587 28.1 65 1.1
Hispanicc 6,708 4,909 73.2 1,799 26.8 1,733 25.8 66 1.0
Other 2,512 2,128 84.7 384 15.3 352 14.0 32 1.3
Household income-to-poverty ratio:
Under 1.00 5,816 3,138 54.0 2,678 46.0 2,541 43.7 137 2.4
Under 1.30 7,835 4,435 56.6 3,400 43.4 3,229 41.2 171 2.2
Under 1.85 12,334 7,695 62.4 4,639 37.6 4,414 35.8 225 1.8
1.85 and over 21,576 20,037 92.9 1,539 7.1 1,508 7.0 31 .1
Income unknown 6,080 5,235 86.1 845 13.9 827 13.6 18 .3
Area of residence:d
Inside metropolitan area 33,138 27,435 82.8 5,703 17.2 5,473 16.5 230 .7
    In principal citiese 10,277 7,851 76.4 2,426 23.6 2,337 22.7 89 .9
    Not in principal cities 17,462 15,194 87.0 2,268 13.0 2,177 12.5 91 .5
Outside metropolitan area 6,852 5,532 80.7 1,320 19.3 1,276 18.6 44 .6
Census geographic region:
Northeast 7,229 6,179 85.5 1,050 14.5 1,015 14.0 35 .5
Midwest 8,996 7,532 83.7 1,464 16.3 1,411 15.7 53 .6
South 14,563 11,833 81.3 2,730 18.7 2,619 18.0 111 .8
West 9,202 7,422 80.7 1,780 19.3 1,705 18.5 75 .8
Individuals in households with children
All individuals in households with children 158,626 130,875 82.5 27,751 17.5 26,696 16.8 1,055 .7
Adults in households with children 85,587 71,703 83.8 13,884 16.2 13,374 15.6 510 .6
Children 73,039 59,171 81.0 13,868 19.0 13,323 18.2 545 .7

The McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act of 1987 ensures that homeless children have certain rights regarding school enrollment and attendance:

  • Homeless children are permitted to stay in their school even if they move.
  • They can enroll in a new school with no proof of residency, immunizations, guardianship papers, or records from former schools.
  • They are entitled to transportation to and from school along with other children.
  • They can receive all necessary school services.
  • They have the right to challenge decisions made by schools and districts.

However, even federal legislation cannot fully protect homeless children. The National Coalition for the Figure 6.1 Prevalence of food insecurity, by selected characteristics, United States, 2003 and 2004 Mark Nord, Margaret Andrews, and Steven Carlson, "Figure 3. Prevalence of Food Insecurity, 2003 and 2004," in Household Food Security in the United States, 2004, Economic Research Report No. 11, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, October 2005, http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/err11/err11.pdf (accessed April 10, 2006)Homeless (NCH) fact sheet "Education of Homeless Children and Youth" (June 2005) states that about 42% of homeless children transfer schools at least once each year, and 51% transferred two or more times, resulting in an estimated three to six months of school time lost with each move. Although the McKinney-Vento Act was strengthened in 2002, the NCH maintains that the program is still underfunded by about $15 million.

Patterns of U.S. Poverty as Reported by the Census Bureau

The U.S. Census Bureau uses the poverty threshold measurement discussed above and in Chapter 1, occasionally adding alternative measurement methods as they become available. As of 2006 the Census measurements still produce the most accurate overview of poverty in the United States, although they are admittedly controversial and do not necessarily tell the whole story of American poverty.

RACE AND ETHNICITY

While overall poverty has risen in the United States, especially among working people, some demographic groups have historically experienced higher rates. According to the U.S. Census Bureau's Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2004 (August 2005), the total poverty rate for all groups is almost 12.7% (thirty-seven million people), but African-Americans have the highest rate of any racial or ethnic group, at 24.7% (nine million); this remained unchanged from 2003 to 2004. (See Table 6.1.) The rate for Hispanics also saw no change during that time, holding at 21.9% (9.1 million). People of Asian descent actually saw a decrease in poverty in the United States, from 11.8% in 2003 to 9.8% (1.4 million) in 2004. The rate for non-Hispanic whites rose from 8.2% to 8.6% (16.9 million). The three-year average rate for Native American and Alaska Natives in 2002–04 was nearly as high as for African-Americans: 24.3%. For Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders the three-year average was 13.2%. (See Table 6.2.)

AGE

Of all age groups, children under eighteen have the highest poverty rate in America, at 17.8%. (See Table 6.1.) For people aged eighteen to sixty-four, the rate is markedly lower, at 11.3%. The Census Bureau's report notes that children make up only 25.2% of the total American population but account for 35.2% of people in poverty. Children under six living in a family with a single mother or female householder have the highest poverty rate: 52.6% of them live in poverty, versus 10.1% of children in married-couple families. From 2003 to 2004 the poverty rate for people eighteen to sixty-four increased by about one-half of 1%; for those sixty-five and older it decreased slightly, from 10.2% to 9.8%. (See Table 6.1.)

IMMIGRATION STATUS

Most people in the United States who live in poverty are American-born—87.9%—while 4.6% are foreign-born American citizens, and 7.4% are foreign-born and not citizens, according to Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2004. American-born citizens experienced an increase in their poverty rate from 2003 to 2004, from 11.8% to 12.1%. The rate for foreign-born naturalized citizens was 10% in 2003 and 9.8% in 2004. Foreign-born noncitizens experienced a poverty rate of 21.6% in 2004. (See Table 6.1.)

DEPTH OF POVERTY

The Census Bureau also calculates how far Americans in poverty fall below the official poverty threshold for their individual situation. This is important information because it allows researchers and legislators to see just how poor the poor are. In 2004, according to Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2004, 15.6 million Americans (5.4% of the total population) earned less than 50% of the poverty threshold, accounting for 42.3% of the total number of Americans in poverty. These numbers, which count the poorest of the poor, stayed the same from 2003 to 2004. The numbers increased, though, for people in the middle range of poverty—those who earned at least 50% but less than 100% of the poverty threshold for their situation—from 20.6 million (7.2%) in 2003 to 21.4 million (7.4%) in 2004. For the high-range category of poor people—those who earn as much as the threshold or slightly above it (between 100% and 125% of the threshold)—the numbers stayed the same: 12.7 million people, representing 4.4% of the poor.

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