Poverty

Poverty is broadly defined as a condition in which a person or group of people lacks the essentials and necessities to achieve a minimum standard of living and well-being. Poverty is most frequently defined by economic circumstances, where individuals have insufficient access to resources. However, it may also be defined by the social ramifications that are predicated by a deprived state of social or political power.

The prevalence of poverty varies throughout the world. Industrialized nations have a lower incidence of poverty than less developed nations. In developing nations, poverty is a bleak reality. The causes of poverty are diverse, but in countries with densely impoverished regions they are geological, agricultural, ecological, and geopolitical. Official reporting agencies debate the method with which poverty is measured and reported, but general international indices include infant mortality, hunger, and child malnutrition. Infant mortality rates and child malnutrition are the most prevalent in the African continent, for example, where some regions report that as many as 20% of all preschool children are underweight. Furthermore, childhood hunger is the most ubiquitous in South Asia, with dense pockets of poverty juxtaposed with areas experiencing the benefits of economic growth.

In the United States, the official rates are determined by the U.S. Bureau of the Census (Census Bureau). The Census Bureau has been measuring poverty rates since 1964 when it developed its official poverty indices known collectively as poverty thresholds. Poverty thresholds define the minimum levels below which poverty exists and are viewed as a comprehensive poverty measure. They are used for [Page 1648]statistical purposes. U.S. poverty thresholds are indexed to inflation and other economic indices and updated annually. Some debate the methods with which the Census Bureau determines poverty thresholds because it estimates rates using total income. Noncash sources, such as food stamps, are not factored into the calculations. Still, they are the most widely used indices. The Department of Health and Human Services also produces an index called poverty guidelines. It is another federal poverty measure, but it is different from poverty thresholds because it is used for administrative purposes only, such as determining eligibility for federal programs.

The Census Bureau examines income level, household composition, ethnicity, age, occupation, education, geographic factors (such as region, urban or rural areas, economic differences between states and regions), and health insurance costs and coverage to report annual figures and year-over-year comparisons. Data reported in 2006 for 2005 indicated that 37.0 million people (12.6% of the population) in the United States were at or below the poverty level. The majority of this figure represented women and children who did not participate in the workforce that year. This figure remained relatively stable as compared with 2004. The most marked increase was for seniors, aged 65 and older, whose poverty total increased by approximately 3%. Otherwise, blacks, Hispanics, whites, and other household compositions remained stable year over year.

At the time the Census Bureau began to define and monitor poverty in 1964, U.S. rates exceeded 20% of the population. In the most recent decade, however, they have ranged between 10% and 15%. History has proven that the rate varies the most when the overall economy is in a recessionary period.

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