Indicators of Welfare Dependence, 1997

ECONOMIC SECURITY RISK FACTOR 3. POVERTY SPELLS

The length of a poverty episode illustrates one aspect of the risk of dependence.

• Forty-four percent of children age 0 to 15 experienced short poverty spells of less than 4 months and three-quarters of children age 0 to 15 experienced poverty spells of less than one year.
• As shown in Table ECON 3, compared to non-Hispanic whites, non-Hispanic blacks and Hispanics have larger percentages of poverty spells that lasted 20 or more months (19 percent) and lower percentages of poverty spells that lasted less than 4 months (around 40 percent).
• Table ECON 3 shows that adults age 65 and over had longer poverty spells than did other age groups; 35 percent had poverty spells that lasted 20 or more months.
• As shown in Table ECON 3, a smaller percentage of men than women experienced poverty spells lasting 20 or more months.

Table ECON 3. Percent of Individuals in Poverty by Spell Length, 1992 SIPP Panel

	Spells	Spells	Spells	Spells
	<4	<12	<20	20 +
	Months	Months	Months	Months
All Persons	45.5	75.5	84.5	15.5
Racial Categories
Non-Hispanic White	48.1	77.4	86.0	14.0
Non-Hispanic Black	39.7	68.8	81.0	19.0
Hispanic	41.9	75.3	80.7	19.3
Age Categories
Children Age 0 - 15	44.1	74.6	85.3	14.7
Women Age 16 - 64	45.0	74.9	83.9	16.1
Men Age 16 - 64	48.2	80.2	88.4	11.6
Adults Age 65 and over	42.2	60.6	65.1	34.9

Note: Spell length categories are not mutually exclusive. Spells separated by only 1 month are not considered separate spells. Due to the length of the observation period, actual spell lengths for spells that lasted more than 20 months cannot be observed.

Source: Unpublished data from the SIPP, 1992 panel.

ECONOMIC SECURITY RISK FACTOR 4. LONG-TERM POVERTY

As with welfare, poverty experiences often occur in a number of discrete episodes. Measures that illustrate the total length of poverty episodes reveal an important aspect of the severity of the risk of dependence.

• In both time periods, approximately 75 percent of children never lived in poverty.

• The percentage of black children age 0 to 5 who experienced longer-term poverty of 6 to 10 years was much higher than the corresponding percentages for non-black children in both time periods.
• Table ECON 4 shows that for those individuals who were ever poor during the time period, a larger percentage were poor for only one to two years than were poor for a longer period of time.
• Table ECON 4 also shows a higher percentage of children compared to total persons experienced long-term poverty in both time periods, especially long-term poverty of 9 to 10 years.
• As shown in Table ECON 4, in both time periods, compared to non-black individuals and children, a much lower percentage of black individuals were never poor. Also, a much higher percentage of black individuals, relative to non-black individuals, experienced poverty for 3 to 10 years during both time periods.

Table ECON 4. Percent of Individuals Living in Poverty by Number of Years in Poverty

	All Persons: 1972 - 1981			All Persons: 1982 - 1991
Years in	All			All
Poverty	Persons	Black	Non-Black	Persons	Black	Non-Black
0 Years	79.2	45.6	83.7	78.8	50.6	82.9
1 - 2 Years	12.3	20.0	11.3	11.3	14.9	10.7
3 - 5 Years	4.6	16.6	3.1	5.3	14.4	4.0
6 - 8 Years	2.5	10.4	1.5	2.8	11.2	2.0
9 - 10 Years	1.2	7.5	0.4	1.8	8.9	0.7
	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%
	Children 0 - 5 in 1972: 1972-1981			Children 0 - 5 in 1982: 1982-1991
Years in	All	Black	Non-Black	All	Black	Non-Black
Poverty	Children	Children	Children	Children	Children	Children
0 Years	75.6	34.1	82.3	73.3	40.9	79.2
1 - 2 Years	13.1	21.7	11.7	12.3	16.5	11.6
3 - 5 Years	5.6	20.5	3.2	7.5	14.8	6.1
6 - 8 Years	3.2	11.1	1.9	3.2	11.1	1.7
9 - 10 Years	2.5	12.8	0.9	3.8	16.8	1.4
	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%

Source: Unpublished data from the PSID, 1972 - 1991.

Table of Contents

Next

Where to?

Top of Page
Contents of Report

Home Pages:
Human Services Policy (HSP)
Assistant Secretary for Planning & Evaluation (ASPE)
U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS)

Updated: 11/29/01