Poverty by the Numbers
According to recent government survey data, 12.5 percent of people in the United States are poor. That means that one in eight people you pass on the street today represents someone who is poor.1 Recent government data also finds that 12.1 percent of people in the United States are food insecure, sometimes called “at risk of hunger.”2 It is no coincidence that food insecurity rates line up so closely with poverty rates; poverty and food insecurity usually travel together. The MDGs were framed with this understanding—that’s why reducing hunger and poverty are grouped together as Goal 1. A complete list of the eight MDGs is available on page 137.
Figure 1 shows U.S. poverty and food insecurity data from 2000-2007. The numbers have scarcely changed. When the data are updated to include 2008, one should expect to see a spike. The 2008 data will not only reflect increases in unemployment, but also higher prices for food and fuel, the credit crisis that has trapped millions of low-income families in unsustainable mortgages, and low-income wages that continue to lag behind the cost of living.
Since 1973, poverty rates have remained between 10 and15 percent (see Figure 4). Meanwhile, the U.S. economy has been growing steadily throughout this period—but it mainly rewards those in higher income groups. The wages of those at the bottom have been eroding over this time, not even keeping pace with inflation. This is an important countertrend that deserves the attention of policymakers, because conventional wisdom holds that everyone stands to benefit in a flourishing economy. It is not because of a weak economy that the poverty rate has not gone below 10 percent, nor is it due to high rates of unemployment. Annual survey data by the Bureau of Labor Statistics show that many poor adults are working, some in full-time, year-round work. The common knee-jerk response to poverty, “Just get a job,” misses the point in this environment.
Figure 4 includes something else that should not be overlooked: the years between 1959 and 1973, when the poverty rate fell by more than half. One reason for this was a strong economy in which the rewards were shared more equitably. Another is the much maligned “War on Poverty,” which included a series of new social programs like Medicare and Medicaid, improvements in Social Security, and an expansion of nutrition programs. The primary beneficiaries were seniors, whose poverty rates dropped from more than 30 percent to less than 10 percent and have remained around there ever since.
President Ronald Reagan liked to say, “The government declared war on poverty and poverty won.” But the truth is that the war on poverty was fought with limited firepower. By the mid 1970s, the country tired of this war. Other priorities replaced it. Since then there have been poverty rates of 10 to 15 percent. But no one should presume that this is unchangeable. If there is any doubt whether we can achieve a significant reduction in poverty, we should simply remind ourselves that we have done it before.
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1 Current Population Survey (2008), U.S. Census Bureau.
2 Household Food Security in the United States 2007 (2008), U.S. Department of Agriculture.
