US Poverty Crisis: The amount of people in poverty is highest since 1993, home ownership is lowest since 1993

The US Poverty statistics are not looking good. Although historically, poverty rates were much higher in the 50’s, they are currently highest as measured since 1993.

Home Ownership Falls

According to Bloomberg, Home ownership Rate U.S. Falls to 63.7%, Lowest Since 1993. This statistic, however, does not reflect the whole picture. Most of these homeowners are baby boomers or older, having acquired their properties before the year 2000. Millennial home ownership is much lower than 63.7%, as the nation’s income has stagnated since the 2008 depression.

How does the United States measure poverty?




A sampling of the poverty thresholds for 2010 is included in the table below. A complete list can be found on the Census Bureau’s website(

2010 Poverty Thresholds, Selected Family Types

  Single Individual Under 65 years  $ 11,344
65 years & older  $ 10,458
  Single Parent One child  $ 15,030
Two children  $ 17,568
  Two Adults No children  $ 14,602
One child  $ 17,552
Two children  $ 22,113
Three children  $ 26,023



How many people were poor in 2010?


How has poverty changed over time?




How does poverty differ across subgroups?




How many children live in poverty?[3]


Children Under 18 Living in Poverty, 2010


Number (in thousands)


All children under 18

16, 401


White only, non-Hispanic













How does the poverty rate vary under alternative definitions?

The official poverty measure has been criticized for not accounting for several factors that can affect a family’s economic well-being and for not having been updated, except for inflation, for four decades.






A sample of alternative measures is included in the figure below for years in which they are available. The black line represents the official poverty rate. The blue line represents one of the Census Bureau’s alternative measures, which includes food stamps, Medicare, Medicaid and housing subsidies as income. The taxes the family pays are then subtracted, and the resulting net resources are compared to the standard poverty threshold.

The green line represents one of the alternative measures using NAS methodology. This particular series subtracts out-of-pocket medical expenses from a family’s income, computes a threshold each year based on consumption data, and adjusts this threshold based on the cost-of-living in different geographic areas.

SOURCE: U.S. Bureau of the Census, Income Alternative Poverty Estimates in the United States: 2003, Report P60, n. 227, Tables B-1 and B-3, pp. 18, 20.




[3] For more information on child poverty in the United States, see the National Center for Children in Poverty’s website or the Institute for Research on Poverty, “Frequently Asked Questions: How Many Children Are Poor?’ site.




Sebron University