New Poverty Figures Released

Posted by on September 10, 2004

[posted from Comm-Org]

Neil Wollman; Ph. D.; Senior Fellow, Peace Studies Institute; Professor of Psychology; Manchester College, North Manchester, IN 46962; njwollman at manchester.edu; 260-982-5346; fax 260-982-5043

NEW POVERTY FIGURES REVERSE SOME HISTORICAL TRENDS AND REINFORCE OTHERS: POVERTY GAP DATA FOR RACE, GENDER, AGE, AND CLASS

New poverty figures for 2003 released by the U.S. Census Bureau have led us to modify certain of our earlier conclusions which were based on 1995-2002 figures
(see our previous release below titled

POVERTY GAPS IN THE U.S. BETWEEN THE RACES, AGE GROUPS, AND GENDERS DECREASED STEADILY SINCE 1995— BUT STILL A WAYS TO GO
///
THE GAP BETWEEN RICH AND POOR KEEPS INCREASING).

First, consistent with our prior conclusions, the inequality in income between the richest and the poorest households continued to widen. Not only is the gap the widest it has ever been since first recorded in the 1960s, but the increase from 2002 to 2003 was also the largest ever recorded (3.6%). This adds up to a 13% increase since 1995 and an even stronger statistically significant trend.

In contrast, the gap between males and females living in poverty continued to decrease for the sixth straight year (down 3% since 1995). And now the trend from 1995-2003 has reached statistical significance. The 2003 figures for race and age have led us to modify some previous conclusions. There is still a statistically significant trend since 1995 showing a narrowing gap between whites and non-whites living in poverty, which decreased 18% over that time. However, the last two years the gap has increased by small amounts – 1.1% in 2002 and 1.4% in 2003, indicating that the previous trend toward equality may have halted after seeing the gap narrow five of the six previous years. No matter the changes of late, the racial gap remains large.

Finally, we also saw a reversal in 2003 in poverty disparity for age (comparing those over 18 with those below 18 years of age). For six of the seven years before 2003, the gap had closed, and it dropped 11% from 1995-2003 (a statistically significant result). However, children are still much more likely to be poor than adults, and this gap increased dramatically in 2003, rising 4%. It is not yet clear whether this is the start of a new trend.

The piece below, released earlier, covers 1995-2002 and provides more details and statistics, as well as background and commentary. Additional statistics reported there will be updated, as well, when new information is available.

For more information, visit http://www.manchester.edu/links/violenceindex/