Content by Keyword: Poverty and Measurement

This risk factor tracks trends in the extent to which adults are living apart from their children because they are incarcerated. An incarcerated parent leaves his orher family at increased risk of dependence. Figure ECON 13. Estimated Number of Sentenced Male Prisoners Under State or Federal Jurisdiction per 100,000 Resident Population, 1981 to

Frequent changes of residence are disruptive events for children and may increase the risk of dependence. Figure ECON 12. Percentage of Persons and Families with Children Who Moved in a Given One-Year Period

High-poverty neighborhoods are often associated with relatively lower quality services (e.g., education, medical) that can have a negative effect on development and increase the risk of dependence. Figure ECON 11. Percentage of Total Population Residing in High-Poverty Neighborhoods, 1990

A lack of health insurance may be the precursor to future health problems and as such a risk factor of dependence. Figure ECON 10. Percentage of Persons without Health Insurance by Age, 1996 Source: Table ECON 10.

Household food insecurity, including (at a severe level) direct hunger among children in the household, is related to general income poverty and is expected to affect children’s health, cognitive and social development, and general school success. Figure ECON 9. Percentage of Households Classified as Food Insecure, 1995

Child support provides critical income to families with children and reduces the likelihood of dependence. These child support risk factors reflect the presence and magnitude of child support payments made by noncustodial parents for families receiving services from the Child Support Enforcement Program. Figure ECON 8a. Total, Non-AFDC/TANF,

Trends in the pre- and post-transfer rates of poverty which show the anti-poverty effectiveness of social security and of the major means-tested assistance program benefits. Figure ECON 7. Poverty Rate of All Persons in Families with Related Children Under 18 Using Alternative Definitions of Income, 1979-1996

The extent to which parental poverty is associated with poverty of their children as adults illustrates a significant risk to current and future dependence. Figure ECON 6. Poverty Status in 1990 of Persons under 18 and Poor in 1970 Source: Table ECON 6.

Events that trigger the beginning or ending of a poverty episode indicate an increased or decreased likelihood of future dependence. Table ECON 5a. Percentage of First Poverty Spell Beginnings Associated with Specific Events

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. Figure ECON 4. Percentage of Children Ages 0 to 5 in 1982 Living in Poverty by Cumulative Number of Years in Poverty Sourc

The length of a poverty episode illustrates one aspect of the risk of dependence. Figure ECON 3. Length of Spells of Poverty for Persons Who Became Poor during the 1993 SIPP Panel Source: Table ECON 3.

Data on poverty transitions show the extent of new entries into and exits from poverty. Figure ECON 2a. Percentage of Poor Individuals Moving out of Poverty from 1993 to 1994

Poverty rates illustrate the economic condition of families and, as such, a key risk factor of dependence. Figure ECON 1a. Percentage in Poverty by Age

The Welfare Indicators Act challenges the Department of Health and Human Services, and indirectly the Advisory Board on Welfare Indicators, to identify and set forth not only indicators of welfare dependence and welfare duration, but also predictors and causes of welfare receipt. Up to this point, welfare research has not established clear and def

Another key aspect of dependence is the extent to which parental receipt of means-tested assistance is associated with receipt by their children when the children become adults. Figure IND 12. Percentage of Youth Recipients (14 to 16) and Youth Non-Recipients (14 to 16) who Received Three Years of Benefits as Adults (25 to 27)

This indicator shows how many people have moved onto means-tested assistance programs and how many recipients have moved off means-tested assistance programs. Figure IND 11a. Percentage of Non-Recipients Moving on to Assistance from 1993 to 1994

Not all eligible households participate in means-tested programs. This indicator reflects “take up rates” – the number of families that actually participate in the program as a percent of those who are eligible. Figure IND 10a. AFDC Caseload versus Number of Eligible Families: Number of Cases & Percentage of Total Eligibles

Figure ECON 8. Percentage of Persons without Health Insurance, by Income: 2002

Figure ECON 7. Percentage of Households Classified by Food Security Status: 2002 Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, Household Food Security in the United States, 2002.