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Census tracts have been defined for metropolitan areas which cover 75% of the total U.S. population. The poverty line is defined as the income level at which the estimated cost of a low-cost food plan for a family of three or more would consume 33% of the family’s total income. A high poverty census tract is defined as one in which 40% or more of the population is below the poverty line. The percentage of poor people living in high poverty census tracts is a measure of the concentration of poverty in urban areas. It is widely believed that poor people are worse off living in areas of concentrated poverty than they would be in other areas, and that society as a whole suffers when these areas of concentrated poverty exist. Furthermore, growth in areas of concentrated poverty has negative implications for the future because children reared in very poor neighborhoods are at risk of poor developmental outcomes.
The graph shows three measures of the concentration of poverty in urban areas:
(1) the percentage of the population below the poverty line living in high poverty census tracts (from 16.5% in 1970 to 28.2% in 1990);
(2) the percentage of census tracts which are defined as “high poverty” with 40% or more of the population in the tract below the poverty line (from 6% in 1970 to 13.7% in 1990); and
(3) the percentage of total population living in high poverty census tracts (from 5.2% in 1970 to 10.7% in 1990).
Link(s) to national databases (also see section on Related Internet Links):
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http://www.sdi.gov/indicators/lc_pov.htm Last Modified: May 14, 2002 |