Many of the Americans who fall into poverty climb out of it within a short time, according to a report released by the Census Bureau on March 16. Overall, from 2004 to 2006, 29 percent of people in the United States experienced poverty for at least eight weeks. Only 3 percent stayed poor for the entire two years.
The Census surveyed randomly chosen, representative households over three years, from 2004 to 2007. It did not find that a majority of households emerge from poverty quickly. Nearly half, or 42 percent, who were poor in 2004 were no longer poor in 2006. That percentage represents 12 million people.
According to a news release from the Census Bureau, “Among the 33 million people who were poor at the start of the period in January and February 2004, 23 percent remained poor throughout the next 34 months.”
The oldest and the youngest fared the worst. Children and people over 65 had the longest median stays in poverty, according to the report. Children stayed poor for a median time of 5.2 months and elders for a median of 6.7 months, the longest of any group. Households with two working age adults had the briefest stints in poverty, as common sense would expect.
The Office of Management and Budget considers the poverty threshold for a family of four to be an income of $21,954 per year.
Poverty is defined in different ways for different configurations of households. The figures take into account the Consumer Price Index and rates of inflation.
The Census surveyed randomly chosen, representative households over three years, from 2004 to 2007. It did not find that a majority of households emerge from poverty quickly. Nearly half, or 42 percent, who were poor in 2004 were no longer poor in 2006. That percentage represents 12 million people.
According to a news release from the Census Bureau, “Among the 33 million people who were poor at the start of the period in January and February 2004, 23 percent remained poor throughout the next 34 months.”
The oldest and the youngest fared the worst. Children and people over 65 had the longest median stays in poverty, according to the report. Children stayed poor for a median time of 5.2 months and elders for a median of 6.7 months, the longest of any group. Households with two working age adults had the briefest stints in poverty, as common sense would expect.
The Office of Management and Budget considers the poverty threshold for a family of four to be an income of $21,954 per year.
Poverty is defined in different ways for different configurations of households. The figures take into account the Consumer Price Index and rates of inflation.
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