Poverty Status of Families (U.S. Only) (Archives, 1959-2021)

This database contains the estimated number of families in poverty in March of the following year by race, ethnicity, marital status, and children present.  Poverty is based on money income thresholds that vary by family size and composition to determine who is in poverty. If a family's total income is less than the family's threshold, then that family and every individual in it is considered in poverty. The official poverty thresholds do not vary geographically, but they are updated for inflation using Consumer Price Index (CPI-U). The official poverty definition uses money income before taxes and does not include capital gains or noncash benefits (such as public housing, Medicaid, and food stamps).  

Because the Census Bureau changed demographic reporting categories in 2003, data are not available for all possible search combinations. For example, the category "Black with children under 18 years" was replaced by two multi-race categories, e.g., "Black alone or in combination with children under 18 years" and "Black alone with children under 18 years."  In this example, data are available for "Black with children under 18 years" from 1967-2001, but not after year 2001.  Data for the multi-race categories, "Black alone or in combination with children under 18 years" and "Black alone with children under 18 years" are available only since 2002.  Hispanic origin may be of any race. Data for Hispanic origin are not available prior to 1972.  Prior to 1979 unrelated subfamilies were included in all families. Beginning in 1979 unrelated subfamilies are excluded from all families.

Over the years, the Census Bureau has implemented several other changes in its collection of these data.  These include:

• 1967: A new Current Population Survey processing system
• 1971: Census population controls
• 1974: A new March Current Population Survey (CPS) processing system that asked eleven income questions
• 1979: Census population controls and a questionnaire with 27 possible values from 51 possible sources of income; also, unrelated subfamilies were excluded from all families
• 1981: Three technical changes to the poverty definition
• 1983: Implementation of Hispanic population weighting controls
• 1987: Implementation of a new March CPS processing system
• 1992: Implementation of 1990 census population controls
• 1993: Data collection method changed from paper and pencil to computer- assisted interviewing and changes in  income amounts on selected questionnaires items
• 1999: Implementation of Census 2000 based population controls.
• 2000: Implementation of Census 2000 based population controls and sample expanded by 28,000 households
• 2010: Implementation of Census 2010-based population controls, including a provision that allowed people of Hispanic origin to identify with any race.
• 2013: 2013 reflects survey results baseed on the CPS sample of 68,000 addresses.  2013R reflects results based on a redesigned survey mailed to 30,000 addresses.