All those "myths" on poverty is contradicted in so many ways, it's pitiful. The conservatives would have us believe there is no poverty in the US. The issue is simply that under Bush, poverty has increased.
How does the United States measure poverty?
The United States determines the official poverty rate using poverty thresholds that are issued each year by the Census Bureau.
The thresholds represent the annual amount of cash income minimally required to support families of various sizes.
The methodology for calculating the thresholds was established in the mid-1960s and has not changed in the intervening years. The thresholds are updated annually to account for inflation.[1]
A family is counted as poor if its pretax money income is below its poverty threshold. Money income does not include noncash benefits such as public housing, Medicaid, employer-provided health insurance and food stamps[2].
A sampling of the poverty thresholds for 2004 is included in the table below. A complete list can be found on the Census Bureau's website (www.census.gov).
2004 Poverty Thresholds, Selected Family Types
Single Individual
Under 65 years
$ 9,827
65 years & older
$ 9,060
Single Parent
One child
$ 13,020
Two children
$ 15,219
Two Adults
No children
$ 12,649
One child
$ 15,205
Two children
$ 19,157
Three children
$ 22,543
SOURCE: U.S. Bureau of the Census, Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2004, Report P60, n. 229, p. 45.
Poverty guidelines are a simplified version of poverty thresholds and are issued by the Department of Health and Human Services to determine financial eligibility for certain federal programs. For more information on these guidelines, see the 2005 Federal Poverty Guidelines.
How many people were poor in 2004?
In 2004, 12.7 percent of all persons lived in poverty. In 1993 the poverty rate was 15.1 percent. Between 1993 and 2000, the poverty rate fell each year, reaching 11.3 percent in 2000. Poverty has risen in each of the last four years.
How has poverty changed over time?
In the late 1950s, the poverty rate for all Americans was 22.4 percent, or 39.5 million individuals. These numbers declined steadily throughout the 1960s, reaching a low of 11.1 percent, or 22.9 million individuals, in 1973. Over the next decade, the poverty rate fluctuated between 11.1 and 12.6 percent, but it began to rise steadily again in 1980. By 1983, the number of poor individuals had risen to 35.3 million individuals, or 15.2 percent.
For the next ten years, the poverty rate remained above 12.8 percent, increasing to 15.1 percent, or 39.3 million individuals, by 1993. The rate declined for the remainder of the decade, to 11.3 percent by 2000. Since then, it has risen each year, to 12.7 percent in 2004.
The figure below shows the poverty rate for all people and for several subgroups.
As this graph shows, the poverty rate has increased under Bush.
Since the late 1960s, the poverty rate for people over 65 has fallen dramatically. The poverty rate for children has historically been somewhat higher than the overall poverty rate. The poverty rate for people in households headed by single women is significantly higher than the overall poverty rate.
SOURCE: U.S. Bureau of the Census, Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2004, Report P60, n. 229, Tables B-1 and B-2, pp. 46-57.
