Monthly Measures of Poverty Status, by Race, Hispanic Origin, Region, Educational Attainment, and Disability Status statistics

[In thousands (31,818 represents 31,818,000), except percent. Covers two-year calendar period. Based on Survey of Income and Program Participation, see text, Section 14 and summary below table]


	1990-91 PERIOD				1990-91 PERIOD


	PERSONS POOR IN		PERSONS POOR		PERSONS POOR ALL		Median
Characteristic	AN AVERAGE MONTH		2 OR MORE MONTHS		24 MONTHS OF		duration
	1990-91		1990-91		1990-91		of
							poverty
	Number	Percent	Number	Percent	Number	Percent	spells
	(1,000)		(1,000)		(1,000)		(months)

Total ¹	31,818	12.9	45,638	18.9	10,619	4.5	4.0

Under 18 years old..	13,027	20.1	17,672	27.7	4,820	7.5	(NA)
18 to 64 years old	16,009	10.5	24,454	16.4	4,401	3.0	(NA)
65 years old and over..	2,783	9.4	3,512	12.5	1,399	5.3	(NA)

White..	21,233	10.2	32,042	15.7	5,969	3.0	3.9
Black	9,152	30.1	11,621	39.2	4,060	13.9	5.8

Hispanic origin ².	5,465	26.1	7,345	37.5	1,949	10.4	4.9

Region: ³
Northeast..	5,139	10.2	6,980	14.4	2,007	4.2	3.8
Midwest..	7,345	11.9	10,472	16.9	2,689	4.3	3.9
South	13,458	15.9	19,606	23.8	4,570	5.7	4.4
West..	5,876	11.6	8,579	17.7	1,354	2.9	4.2

Educational attainment: ⁴
Less than 4 years of high school.	8,392	20.8	11,229	29.2	3,366	9.1	5.3
High school graduate, no college.	6,350	9.3	9,927	14.6	1,776	2.7	3.9
One or more years of college.	4,050	5.5	6,809	9.6	658	0.9	3.7

Disability status: ⁵
With a work disability.	5,304	17.8	7,149	25.8	1,899	7.3	4.9
With no work disability..	12,944	9.0	20,378	14.4	3,239	2.3	3.9


	1991-92 PERIOD				1991-92 PERIOD


	PERSONS POOR IN		PERSONS POOR		PERSONS POOR ALL		Median
Characteristic	AN AVERAGE MONTH		2 OR MORE MONTHS		24 MONTHS OF		duration
	OF 1991		OF 1991		1991-92		of
							poverty
	Number	Percent	Number	Percent	Number	Percent	spells
	(1,000)		(1,000)		(1,000)		(months)

Total ¹	36,116	14.5	52,761	21.3	12,465	5.1	4.2

Under 18 years old..	14,668	22.2	20,427	30.6	5,842	8.7	4.8
18 to 64 years old	18,345	12.0	28,472	18.7	5,076	3.4	4.0
65 years old and over..	3,103	10.2	3,862	13.6	1,547	5.8	5.9

White..	24,671	11.8	37,351	18.1	6,960	3.4	4.0
Black	9,620	30.9	12,556	40.7	4,855	16.1	5.4

Hispanic origin ².	6,476	29.8	9,361	40.9	2,723	12.2	5.6

Region: ³
Northeast..	6,953	13.6	10,144	20.0	2,587	5.1	4.0
Midwest..	7,428	11.7	10,850	17.1	2,185	3.4	3.9
South	14,074	17.3	20,287	25.2	5,672	7.2	4.9
West..	7,662	14.3	11,480	21.8	2,022	4.0	4.0

Educational attainment: ⁴
Less than 4 years of high school.	9,268	23.0	12,307	32.3	3,810	10.4	5.9
High school graduate, no college.	7,280	10.6	11,495	16.6	1,969	2.9	4.0
One or more years of college.	4,900	6.6	8,531	11.7	844	1.2	3.6

Disability status: ⁵
With a work disability.	5,836	20.8	7,904	29.8	2,301	9.2	4.8
With no work disability..	15,037	10.3	24,296	16.7	3,760	2.6	3.9

	1992-93 PERIOD				1992-93 PERIOD


	PERSONS POOR IN		PERSONS POOR		PERSONS POOR ALL		Median
Characteristic	AN AVERAGE MONTH		2 OR MORE MONTHS		24 MONTHS OF		duration
					1992-93		of
							poverty
	Number	Percent	Number	Percent	Number	Percent	spells
	(1,000)		(1,000)		(1,000)		(months)

Total ¹	37,597	14.6	52,725	20.8	11,887	4.8	4.9

Under 18 years old..	15,464	22.3	20,782	30.3	5,659	8.3	5.2
18 to 64 years old	18,999	12.0	28,066	18.1	4,907	3.2	4.7
65 years old and over..	3,134	10.2	3,877	13.3	1,321	4.9	7.2

White..	25,474	11.8	37,195	17.6	6,480	3.1	4.6
Black	10,346	31.7	13,199	41.1	4,682	15.1	6.2

Hispanic origin ².	7,553	29.0	10,022	40.0	2,383	10.3	5.8

Region: ³
Northeast..	6,845	13.3	9,320	18.4	2,560	5.2	5.3
Midwest..	8,718	13.3	12,656	19.4	2,668	4.2	5.2
South	14,346	16.4	19,909	23.0	4,939	5.8	5.2
West..	7,688	14.5	10,840	21.4	1,720	3.5	4.0

Educational attainment: ⁴
Less than 4 years of high school.	9,224	23.9	12,122	32.4	3,424	9.5	6.5
High school graduate, no college.	7,977	11.3	11,853	17.2	2,056	3.0	4.7
One or more years of college.	4,931	6.2	7,968	10.2	749	1.0	3.8

Disability status: ⁵
With a work disability.	5,919	21.6	7,984	31.4	2,072	8.2	6.2
With no work disability..	15,787	10.5	23,874	15.9	3,595	2.5	4.3


	1993-94 PERIOD				1993-94 PERIOD


	PERSONS POOR IN		PERSONS POOR		PERSONS POOR ALL		Median
CHARACTERISTIC	AN AVERAGE MONTH		2 OR MORE MONTHS		24 MONTHS OF		duration
	OF 1994		IN 1994		1993-94		of
							poverty
	Number	Percent	Number	Percent	Number	Percent	spells
	(1,000)		(1,000)		(1,000)		(months)

Total ¹	40,009	15.4	54,800	21.4	13,105	5.3	4.5

Under 18 years old..	17,169	24.5	22,529	32.4	6,489	9.4	5.3
18 to 64 years old	19,652	12.3	28,317	18.1	5,156	3.4	4.0
65 years old and over..	3,188	10.2	3,954	13.5	1,459	5.4	6.7

White..	27,543	12.7	38,861	18.3	7,793	3.8	4.2
Black	10,304	31.2	13,059	40.2	4,461	14.1	6.8

Hispanic origin ².	8,555	31.4	10,940	41.8	3,262	13.5	5.0

Region: ³
Northeast..	7,303	14.1	9,892	19.3	2,822	5.5	4.4
Midwest..	8,740	13.2	12,069	18.4	2,571	4.0	3.9
South	14,701	16.8	20,044	23.3	5,085	6.1	5.6
West..	9,265	16.8	12,795	24.3	2,628	5.2	4.4

Educational attainment: ⁴
Less than 4 years of high school.	9,507	24.8	12,221	33.0	3,736	10.5	6.4
High school graduate, no college.	8,263	11.6	11,973	17.3	2,120	3.1	4.0
One or more years of college.	5,071	6.3	8,077	10.1	759	1.0	3.7

Disability status: ⁵
With a work disability.	7,059	21.6	8,991	29.8	2,519	8.6	5.8
With no work disability..	15,539	10.5	23,445	15.9	3,444	2.4	4.0

1 Includes other characteristics not shown separately.
2 Persons of Hispanic origin may be of any race.
3 For compostion of regions, see table 27.
4 Persons 18 years old and over.
5 Persons 15 to 69 years old.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Reports, P70-42 (revised after publication) and P70-45 and unpublished data from the Survey of Income and Program Participation.

http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/poverty.html

* Overview of the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP)

Purpose: To collect source and amount of income, labor force information, program participation and eligibility data, and general demographic characteristics to measure the effectiveness of existing federal, state, and local programs; to estimate future costs and coverage for government programs, such as food stamps; and to provide improved statistics on the distribution of income in the country.

Survey design and sample size: The survey design is a continuous series of national panels, with sample size ranging from approximately 14,000 to 36,700 interviewed households. The duration of each panel ranges from 2 1/2 years to 4 years. The SIPP sample is a multistage-stratified sample of the U.S. civilian noninstitutionalized population. For the 1984-1993 panels, a new panel of households was introduced each year in February. A new 4-year 1996 panel was introduced in April 1996.

The SIPP content is built around a "core" of labor force, program participation, and income questions designed to measure the economic situation of persons in the United States. These questions expand the data currently available on the distribution of cash and noncash income and are repeated at each interviewing wave. The survey uses a 4-month recall period, with approximately the same number of interviews being conducted in each month of the 4-month period for each wave. Interviews are conducted by personal visit and by decentralized telephone.

The survey has been designed also to provide a broader context for analysis by adding questions on a variety of topics not covered in the core section. These questions are labelled "topical modules" and are assigned to particular interviewing waves of the survey. Topics covered by the modules include personal history, child care, wealth, program eligibility, child support, disability, school enrollment, taxes, and annual income.

Type of respondent: All household members 15 years old and over are interviewed by self-response, if possible; proxy response is permitted when household members are not available for interviewing.

Sponsoring agency and legal authority: The Census Bureau sponsors the survey under the authority of Title 13, United States Code, Section 182.

Periodicity: A continuing survey with monthly interviewing.

Release of results: We release the data periodically in cross-sectional, topical module, and longitudinal reports. We also release public use files containing the core data on income recipiency and program participation. These files are available currently for all waves of the 1984 through 1993 panels and Wave 1 of the 1996 panel. Topical module files containing core and topical module data also are available for these panels for 1984 through 1988 and 1990 through Wave 8 of the 1993 panel. Longitudinal files are also available for the 1984-1993 panels as well as for Waves 1-5 of the 1990 panel and for Waves 1-7 of the 1992 panel.

Historical background: Considerable efforts and funding were invested in developmental work leading to the SIPP. The Income Survey Development Program, conducted between 1977 and 1981, developed survey data collection strategies and instruments as well as data processing strategies for the SIPP. The survey was originally envisioned as a jointly funded effort by the Census Bureau and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Work was well underway for a February 1982 start of the survey when HHS had to withdraw its support due to funding problems. As a result, the survey was postponed until the Census Bureau received adequate funding from Congress to conduct the survey. Interviewing for the first panel, the 1984 panel, began in October 1983 with a sample size of approximately 26,000 designated households selected from 174 current survey PSUs.

As part of our transition to the redesigned SIPP, the 1992 panel was extended to ten waves, and the 1993 panel was extended to nine waves. We did not introduce new panels in 1994 and 1995. Before the redesigned SIPP questionnaire was introduced in the 1996 panel, a dress rehearsal was conducted between February 1995 and September 1995. The dress rehearsal consisted of a Wave 1 and a Wave 2 interview in approximately 9,000 households.

Current operations: The SIPP questionnaire was redesigned, and a new sample design was introduced starting with the 1996 panel. The new 1996 panel consists of 36,700 sample units (households). Households will be interviewed 12 times from April 1996 through March 2000. The 1996 panel SIPP interviews are conducted using a computer-assisted interview on a laptop computer.

*

http://www.allcountries.org/uscensus/762_monthly_measures_of_poverty_status_by.html

These tables are based on figures supplied by the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Department of Commerce and are subject to revision by the Census Bureau.

Copyright © 2006 Photius Coutsoukis and Information Technology Associates, all rights reserved.