| (1) Size of family unit | (2) Poverty thresholds for 1998 (weighted averages)a/ | (3) Column 2 multiplied by 1.022 price inflatorb/ | (4) Difference between successive Column 3 entries | (5) Average difference in Column 4c/ | (6) February 2000 poverty guidelines |
| 1 | $8,316 | $8,499 | $8,350 | ||
| $2,369 | $2,900 | ||||
| 2 | 10,634 | 10,868 | 11,250 | ||
| 2,421 | 2,900 | ||||
| 3 | 13,003 | 13,289 | 14,150 | ||
| 3,738 | 2,900 | ||||
| 4 | 16,660 | 17,027 | 17,050d/ | ||
| 3,086 | 2,900 | ||||
| 5 | 19,680 | 20,113 | 19,950 | ||
| 2,604 | 2,900 | ||||
| 6 | 22,228 | 22,717 | 22,850 | ||
| 3,096 | 2,900 | ||||
| 7 | 25,257 | 25,813 | 25,750 | ||
| 2,973 | 2,900 | ||||
| 8 | 28,166 | 28,786 | 28,650 | ||
| a/ Column 2 entries are from U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Reports, Series P60-207, Poverty in the United States: 1998, Washington, D.C., U.S. Government Printing Office, September 1999, Table A-2, p. A-4. b/ Price inflation calculated from Table 1A of U.S. Department of Labor, Consumer Price Index press release (USDL-00-12), January 14, 2000. (The Consumer Price Index (CPI-U) for all items was 163.0 for calendar year 1998 and 166.6 for calendar year 1999, an increase of 2.2 percent.) c/ The arithmetic average of Column 4 entries, rounded to the nearest multiple of $20. d/ Obtained by multiplying the average poverty threshold for a family unit of four persons for 1998 ($16,660, from Column 2) by the price increase factor from 1998 to 1999 (1.022) and rounding the result upward to the nearest whole multiple of $50. All other entries in Column 6 are obtained by successive addition or subtraction of the average difference ($2,900) to the size-4 2000 guideline entry ($17,050). | |||||
For Alaska and Hawaii, where the cost of living is traditionally believed to be significantly higher than in other states, scaling factors of 1.25 and 1.15, respectively, are applied to the 2000 guideline for a family of four for the 48 contiguous states, and the results (if not already a multiple of $10) are rounded upward to the nearest whole multiple of $10. (These scaling factors were based on Office of Economic Opportunity administrative practice for these two states only beginning in the 1966-1970 period.) These scaling factors are applied to the average difference for the 48 contiguous states (Column 5) to obtain average differences for Alaska and Hawaii for deriving guidelines for other family sizes. For families with more than 8 members, add the following amount for each additional person: $2,900 (48 contiguous states and the District of Columbia); $3,630 (Alaska); $3,340 (Hawaii).