Poverty in the United States in 2018: In Brief (CRS Report for Congress)
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| Release Date |
Nov. 8, 2019 |
| Report Number |
R46000 |
| Report Type |
Report |
| Authors |
Joseph Dalaker |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
Summary:
In 2018, approximately 38.1 million people, or 11.8% of the population, had incomes below the official definition of poverty in the United States. Poverty statistics provide a measure of economic hardship. The official definition of poverty for the United States uses dollar amounts called poverty thresholds that vary by family size and the members' ages. Families with incomes below their respective thresholds are considered to be in poverty. The poverty rate (the percentage that was in poverty) fell from 12.3% in 2017. This was the fourth consecutive year since the most recent recession that the poverty rate has fallen.
The poverty rate for female-householder families in 2018 (24.9%, down 1.3 percentage points from the previous year) was higher than that for male-householder families (12.7%) or married-couple families (4.7%), neither of which registered a decline from 2017.
Of the three age groupsâchildren under 18, the working-age population, and those age 65 and olderâthe 65-and-older population used to have the highest poverty rates, but now has the lowest: 28.5% of the aged population was poor in 1966, but 9.7% was poor in 2018. People under 18, in contrast, had the highest poverty rate of the three age groups: 16.2% of this population was poor in 2018.
From 2017 to 2018, poverty rates fell among children (from 17.4% to 16.2%) and the working-age population (from 11.1% to 10.7%), but not among the aged population (9.7% in 2018).
Poverty was not equally prevalent in all parts of the country. The poverty rate for Mississippi (19.7%) appeared highest but was in a statistical tie with New Mexico (19.5%). New Hampshire's poverty rate (7.6%) was lowest in 2018.
Criticisms of the official poverty measure have inspired poverty measurement research and eventually led to the development of the Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM). The SPM uses different definitions of needs and resources than the official measure.
The SPM includes the effects of taxes and in-kind benefits (such as housing, energy, and food assistance) on poverty, while the official measure does not. Because some types of tax credits are used to assist the poor (as are other forms of assistance), the SPM may be of interest to policymakers.
The poverty rate under the SPM (12.8%) was about 1 percentage point higher in 2018 than the official poverty rate (11.8%).
Under the SPM, the profile of the poverty population is slightly different than under the official measure. Compared with the official measure, poverty rates under the SPM were lower for children (13.7% compared with 16.2%) and higher for working-age adults (12.2% compared with 10.7%) and the 65-and-older population (13.6% compared with 9.7%).
While the SPM reflects more current measurement methods, the official measure provides a comparison of the poor population over a longer time period, including some years before many current antipoverty assistance programs had been developed. In developing poverty-related legislation and conducting oversight on programs that aid the low-income population, policymakers may be interested in these historical trends.
