Most Americans Live in Poverty at Least Once

The likelihood of experiencing relative poverty at least once in their lifetime is surprisingly high for most Americans, experts say.

"Rather than a rigid class structure, the top and bottom ends of the income distribution are fairly porous," says Mark Rank. "This finding provides an interesting and important caveat to the overall story of rising levels of income inequality across the past 40 years." Shelah/CC BY 2.0

The likelihood of experiencing relative poverty at least once in their lifetime is surprisingly high for most Americans, experts say.

Between the ages of 25 and 60, 61.8 percent of the American population will experience a year below the 20th percentile of the income distribution, and 42.1 percent will experience a year below the 10th percentile.

“The numbers we found are higher than those we originally expected to find,” says Mark Rank, a professor of social welfare at Washington University in St. Louis.

This finding provides an interesting and important caveat to the overall story of rising levels of income inequality across the past 40 years.

— Mark Rank