SOC SCI 120 - Responses to Poverty

• How is poverty measured in the United States? 

The US measures the poverty rate using the Current Population Survey (CPS) and the Annual Social and Economic Supplement (ASEC). 

• What is the current poverty rate in the United States?

The official poverty rate in 2021 was 11.6 percent, with 37.9 mil­lion people in poverty. Neither the rate nor the number in pov­erty was significantly different from 2020.

• What are the poverty thresholds today?

Poverty thresholds are the income dollar amounts used by the U.S. Census Bureau to determine a household’s poverty status.

Families below the poverty level in Los Angeles in 1970 (left) and 1999 (right). 

Families below the poverty level in Los Angeles in 1999 (left) and 2020 (right). 

• US Census Bureau: Income & Poverty in the United States 2020 data - Find data about income, income inequality, and poverty.
• Data.census.gov - search engine for finding, analyzing and using Census Bureau data
• Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates (SAIPE) - Use this data tool to find poverty data at the US state and county level.
• U.S. Department of Health & Human Services - Poverty Guidelines used to determine Federal Financial Assistance
• Pew Research Center - a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world. 

• Food Insecurity data: Feeding America 
• Homelessness data: The U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness
• Social mobility data: The Opportunity Atlas
• Unemployment data: The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

• The World Bank: Poverty and Shared Prosperity 2018 - Find data about about global poverty.
• CIA World Factbook - U.S. CIA data on Countries
• Gap Minder - Visual Data Maps of global development