Poverty Measures

The Welfare Indicators Act of 1994 requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to prepare an annual report to Congress on indicators of welfare dependence. The Indicators of Welfare Dependence report is prepared by ASPE’s Office of Human Services Policy.

This research brief examines child poverty in 2010 using both the official poverty measure that the Census Bureau has been using since the 1960s and the more recent Research Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM).

This brief summarizes data released by the Census Bureau on the research supplemental poverty measure.

Since the Great Recession poverty has increased overall and particularly for children. Nearly all of the increase in child poverty occurred between 2007 and 2010 with the national rate rising by 3.8 percentage points, as shown by the orange bars (from 18.0 percent to 21.8 percent). In 2011 and 2012 the national poverty rate leveled off with little change, as shown by the green bars.

This brief analyzes and summarizes changes in child poverty from 2007-2012. Cited statistics include changes in the poverty rate and number of children in poverty by age, race and ethnicity, family type, and immigrant generation.