DOCUMENT RESUME RC 006 794 Ryscavage, Paul M. TITLE The … · 2014-01-02 · DOCUMENT RESUME. ED 072 902. RC 006 794. AUTHOR Ryscavage, Paul M. TITLE The Poor in 1970: A Chartbook

DOCUMENT RESUME

ED 072 902 RC 006 794

AUTHOR Ryscavage, Paul M.TITLE The Poor in 1970: A Chartbook.INSTITUTION Office of Economic Opportunity, Washington, D.C.

Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation.REPORT NO OEO-Pam-1405-12PUB DATE [72]NOTE 64p.

EDRS PRICE MF-$0.65 HC-$3.29DESCRIPTORS *Census Figures; Charts; *Demography; *Economic

Disadvantagement; Ethnic Distribution; GovernmentPublications; Heads of Households; *Low IncomeGroups; Mexican Americans; Negroes; Poverty Research;*Rural Urban Differences; Statistical Studies; Tables(Data)

ABSTRACTThe analyses in this presentation book, prepared by

the Policy Research Division of the Office of Planning, Research, andEvaluation, Office of Economic Opportunity, reflect povertystatistics based on data from the Current Population Survey of theBureau of the Census. These statistics reflect incomes of familiesand individuals which fall below specified income levels or povertylines. These lines are adjusted to take account of such factors asfamily size, sex and age of the family head, number of children, andfarm-nonfarm residence. Each year all poverty lines are adjusted bythe Consumer Price Index so as to reflect changes in the cost ofliving. The poverty information contained in this book is presentedin 28 tables and accompanying charts which are subdivided under thefollowing headings: (1) Who are the Poor? (2) Some SelectedCharacteristics of the Poor; (3) Frequently Mentioned Poverty Groups;(4) The Increase in the Poverty Population between 1969 and 1970; and(5) Trends in the Poverty Population Over the Past Decade. (HBC)

THE POOR I\ 1970:A CL-iARTBOOK'

C)

! k

U S DEPARTMENT OF .1LALTHEDUCATION & WELFAREOFFICE OF EDUCATION

THIS DOCUMENT HAS BEEN REPROOUCED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED FROMTHE PERSON OR ORGANIZATION ORIGINATING IT POINTS OF VIEW OR OPINIONS STATED 00 NOT NECESSARILYREPRESENt OFFICIAL OFFICE OF EDUCATION POSITION OR POLICY

0E41ACA

0AEOL

OLA01 OA

77'

The Poor 1970: ,nECENEO

A Chartbook c NlAR 8 1973NUS U

E. 11 J. C. R

'

Office ofPlanning.Reseal ch. andEaluation

Office ofEconomicOpportunity

0(0 Pamphlet 14OS12

NO1 E

Uhe analyses in this presentation book were prepared by Paul M.Ryscavage of the Policy Research Division in the Office of Planning,Resealch, and Evaluation, Office of Economic Opportunity.

The poverty statistics that were used are based on data TOM theCurrent Population Survey of the Bureau of the Census. Thesestatistics reflect incomes of families and individuals which fall belowspecified income levels or poverty lines. These lines are adjusted to takeaccount of such factors as family size, sex and age of the familyhead, number of children and farm-nonfarm residence. In 1970, thepoverty line for a nonfarm family of four, headed by a male was$3,970. Each year all poverty lines are adjusted by the ConsumerNice Index so as to reflect changes in the cost of living.

For more detailed information relating to the definition of povertyor explanations of various terms used in the chartbook, see "24Million AmericanPoverty in the United States: 1969," CurrentPopulation Reports, Series P-60, No. 76, Bureau of the Census, U.S.Department of Commerce,

4

INTRODUCTION

Until the early 1960's, there was a general belief that pove-ty wasnot a problem in this country. Then poverty was discovered, anever since it has been a subject of concern and controversy.

The concern and controversy, of course, stemmed from the magni-tude of the problem and the ways to fight it. Poverty was reducedsubstantially during the sixties, but the public discussion, if anything,heightened. With the exception of the war in Southeast Asia, no othertopic has been discussed as widely and as heatedly from the hallsof Congress to the sheet corners of our smallest towns.

Setting the debate aside, poverty is still a problem today. Whilethis problem is plain enough to see in our urban ghettos and partsof iural America, its totality can be seen in the poverty statisticsthat the Federal Government issues each year. Indeed, the statisticsissued this spring showed that the number of poor persons increasedby 1.2 million in 1970, reinforcing the fact that poverty is still a

problem in our Nation.As the new decade unfolds, it is imperative that the dimensions

of the problem be continually reexamined. For example, despite thedecline in the number of poor persons in past years, in 1970:

26 million Americans were poor, or nearly 13 percent of ourpopulation,

10 million children were poor, about I of 6,nearly 8 million blacks were poor, or one-third of all blacks in

the country,and 2.2 million Americans of Spanish origin were poor, or 1 out

of every 4.Furthermore. as we enter the 1970's, it is also important to clearup the misconceptions about the nature of poverty that have beensix,wned in the past. According to these misconceptions, for example,poverty v 3 primarily a black problem, or a problem solely of theinner city, or that the poor were simply lazy, preferring to live offthe dole rather than work. But as will be shown,. in 1970:

nearly 7 out of every 10 poor persons were white,only 32 percent of all poor persons lived in the central cities of

our metropolitan areas,and practically all of the poor who could reasonably be expected

to work, were working.The charts in this book, therefore, arc intended to do two things:to inform and to educate. As is known, this Administration is com-mitted to a policy that will provide the poor with the help andassistance they need to remove themselves from poverty It is myhope, therefore, that these charts will contribute to a better under-standing of the challenge that confronts us and the job to whichwe arc committed. Phillip V. Sanchez

Director

TABLEOFCONTENTS

PageSECTION 1. WHO ARE THE POOR? 5

Chart 1. The Poor by Age and Sex-1970 7

Chart 2. The Poor by Race. and Ethnic Origin-1970 ()

Chart 3. The White and Black Poor by Age and Sex -1970. 11

Chart 4. The Poor by Family Status-1970 13

Chart 5. Poor Unrelated Individuals by Age and Sex-1970. 15

Chart 6. Poor and Nonpoor Family Heads, Age 14 andOver, by Sex-1970 17

Chart 7. The Poor oy Metropolitan and NonmetropolitanAreas-1970 10

Chart 8. Th: Geographic Location of the Poor-1970 21

Chart 9. The Incidence of Poverty by Selected Groups-1970. 23

SECTION 2. SOME SELECTED CHARACTERISTICSOF THE POOR -,.;

Chart 10. The Average Family Size of Poor and NonpoorFamilies-1970 27

Chart 11. Years of School Completed for the Poor andNonpoor, Agc 22 and Over-1970 -,,)

Chart 12. The Poor and Nonpoor's Attacknent to theWork Force-1970 31

Chart 13. The Full-time, Part-time Status of the Poor andNonpoor Who Worked, Age 14 and Over-1970

Chart 14. Occupation of Longest Job for the Poo; andNonpoor Who Worked, Age 14 and Over-1970 ...

Chart 15. Sources of Aggregate Family Income Reported byPoor and Nonpoor Families-1969 i 7

Chart 16. Income Deficits of Poor Families-1970 39

SECTION 3. FREQUENTLY MENTIONED POVERTYGROUPS 41

Chart 17. The Elderly Poor and Nonpoor by FamilyStatus-1970 43

Chart 18. The Working Pcor and Nonpoor. Age 14 to 64,by Family Status-1970 45

Chart 19. Poor and Nonpoor Children, Under 16, by Sexand Color of Family Hcad-1970 4'

Chart 20. Persons in Pool. and Nonpoor Female HeadedFamilies by Age 49

SECTION 4. THE INCREASE IN THE POVERTYPOPULATION BETWEEN 1969 AND 1970 51

Chart 21. The Number of Poor Persons-1969 and 1970 53Chart 22. The Number of Poor Persons Living in Families by

2olor and Sex of the Family Head-169 and 1970Chart 23. Ile Number of Poor Persons Living in Families by

Relationship to the Family Head-1969 and 1970 57Chart 24. The Number of Poor Persons by Metropolitan and

Nonmetropolitan Areas-1969 and 1970 59

SECTION 5. TRENDS IN THE POVERTY POPULATIONOVER THE PAST DECADE 61

Chart 25. The Number of Poor Persons-1959 to 1970 6.+

Chart 26. The Poor by Family Status-1960 and 1970 65Chart 27. The Number of Poor Families by Work Status of

the Family Head-1960 and 1970 67Chart 28. Poor Female Heads as a Propoi tion of All Poor

Family Heads by Color-1960 and 1970 69

'I

Who are the poor?

The following series of charts identifiesthe poor by a variety of demographic characteristics:

age, sex, race, family status, metropolitan--

nonmetropolitan areas, and geographic location.

It will be observed at the outset thatthe poor are primarily women, children, and theelderly. Other statistical breakdowns showthat most of the poor are white and live in

nonmetropolitan areas as well as in the innercities.

The last chart in this section indicatesthe incidence of poverty among various groupsof the poor. It shows that not all personsin our country have the same chance of being

poor, and that poverty strikes hardest among

blacks, female headed families, and the elderly

and unrelated individuals.*

*Unrelated individuals are persons who

live alone or with others to whom they are

not related.

1)

4

Chart 1.

The poor byage and sex1970

The poor totaled 25.9 ' million persons in 1970, and represented12.8 percent of the Nation's population.*The poverty population is composed primarily of children (less than16 years of age), women (age 16 to 64) and the elderly (age 65and over). in 1970

nearly 4 out of every 10 poor persons were children,nearly 2 out of every 10 were elderly anJ1 out of 4 was a female, age 16 to 64.

TABLE 1.Total

Number (000)Total 25,886 '

Children, less than 16 10,033Males, 16 to 64 4,355Females, 16 to 64 6,789Elderly, 65 and over 4,709

Percent

100 3

38.816.826.218.2

' Sec footnote on page 70 .

`Because: tr e absolute numbers and percentages have been rounded, they maynot add to the totals in the charts or tables.

Poor Persons

Elderly,65 and over18.2%(4.7 mil.)

Children,less than 1638.8%(10.0 mil.)

Females,16 to 6426.2%(6.8 mil.)

T.f1"14:r-War04

Males,16 to 6416.8%(4.4 mil.)

Chart 2.The poor by raceand ethnic origin1970

Blacks and persons of Spanish origin account for a disproportionateshare of all poor persons. While blacks represent slightly more than10 percent of all persons in,the Nation, they make up about 30 percentof the poverty population. Persons of Spanish origin account for about4 percent of all persons but nearly 9 percent of the poor. The vastmajority (97 percent) of poor persons of Spanish origin are white.

TABLE 2.Total

Number (000) PercentTotal 15,511 100.0

Whites 17,480 68.5Blacks 7,650 30.0Other nonwhites * 392 1.5

Persons of Spanish origin * (2,177) (8.5)

Other nonwhites refer to Indians, Japanese, Chinese and any other race exceptwhite and black. Persons of Spanish cm igin are those who ate of Mexican,Chicano. Puerto Rican, Cuban. Central of South American. of other Spanishdescent. They may be of any race. but about 9/ percent were white Consequent-ly theil addition to c+hites, blacks ,ind other nom% hites who are poor will exceedthe total poor.

8

Ti

,

. Ptl'F.k4"kh ;St

"

'AtCJ1

:'7'0,.'f

a" 114 Vriol ,

10

Chart 3.The white and blaf:!poor by ageand sex1970

Sharp differences exist in the age-sex composition of the white poor andblack poor. In 1970

somewhat more than 3 out of 10 white poor persons were childrenand slightly more than 2 out of 10 were elderly, but about

5 out of 10 poor black persons were children and only 1 in 10 waselderly.

TABLE 3.White Black

I Number (000) Percent Number (000) PercentTotal 17,748 100.0 7,737 100.0

Children, less than 16 6.015 33 9 3,833 49.5Males, 16 to 64 3,104 17.5 1,163 15.0Females, 16 to 64 4.647 26.2 2.055 26.6Elderly, 65 and over 3,984 22.4 683 8.8

White poor

Black poor

Males.16 to 6417.5%(3.1 mil.)


Males,16 to 6415.0%(1.2 mil.)


Females,16 to 6426.5%(2.1 mil.)


Females,16 to 6426.2%(4.6 mil.)

Children,less than 16

, 49.5%(3.8 mil.)

II

Chart 4.The pow byfamily status1970

The family structure of the poor contrasts sharply to that of the non-poor. In 1970

2 ot of 10 poor persons were unrelated individuals and nearly 3out of 10 lived in a family headed by a woman.

only slightly more than I in 10 of the nonpoor were unrelated in-dividuals and members of female headed families.

TABLE 4Poor Nonpoor

Number (000) Percent Number (000) PercentTotal 25,886 100.0 176.968 100.0

Unrelated individuals 5.388 20.8 10.333 5.8In families 20.499 79.2 166.633 94.2

Male headed families 12.879Female headed families 7,620

49.829.4

154,45612,177

87.36.9

12

rcotr)

(1)'0i...

7740 ...,'...a V, 4... ...

Oa a 0 -01=. 0 4,;

..,0 0 a-C "a

Z D.E

cs,

CU") U")C a.) 13 a) =° W Emi12 E .c` E,)

a- (13

Chart 5.Poor unrelatedindividuals by ageand sex1970

Of the 5.4 million unrelated individuals who were poor in 1970,

I out of every 2 was elderlyand 2 out of 5 were elderly women.

TABLE 5.Total

Number (0001 PercentTotal 5.388 100.0

Children. less than 16 406 7.5Males, 16 to 64 856 15.9Females, 16 to 64 1.391 25.8Males, 65 and over 549 10.2Females, 65 and over 2,186 40.6

14

Poorunrelatedindividuals

Females,65 and over40.6%

Males,65 and over10.2%(0.5 mil.)

Females,16 to 6425.8%

Children,less than 16,7.5%(0.4 mil.)

Males,16 to 6415.9%

Chart 6.Poor and nonpoor family heads,age 14 and over,by sex1970

The remaining 20.5 million poor persons lied in 5.2 million families.A significantly larger proportion of . poor families are headed by fe-males compared to nonpoor families. This is especially true amongpoor black families. In 1970

37 percent of all poor families and 7 percent of all poor blackfamilies were headed by females. Only 9 percent of all nonpoor fami-lies were headed by females.

TABLE 6.Poor family heads

TotalPoor blackfamily heads

Nonpoorfamily heads

Number( 000 ) Percent


',lumber( 000 ) Pei cent

TotalMaleFemale

5,2143,2801,934

100.062.937.1

1.445625820

100.043.356.7

46,73942,7234,016

100.091.4

8.6

16

Nonpoor family heads

Male91.4°,0

(42.7 mil.)

Poor family heads

Male62.9%(3 3 mil.)

Poor black family heads

Male43.300(0.6 mil.)

Female8 6'0(4.0 mil.)

Female37.1%(1.9 mil.)


18

Chart 7.The poorby metropolitan andnonmetropolitan areas1970The poor are concentrated in nonmetropolitan areas and in the centralcities of metropolitan areas. In 1970

ncarly 5 of every 10 poor persons lived in nonmetropolitan areasand

slightly mole than 3 of every 10 lived in the central cities of metro-politan areas.

TABLE 7.Total

Number (000) PercentTotal 25.522 100.0

Metropolitan areas 13.378 52.4Central Cities 8.165 32.0Suburbs 5.213 20.4

Nonmetropolitan areas 12.142 7.6

,ryz ..4,14,POs

>12

..-...-v)

co o...., ..-.-;

-8 6 --:. u)= a. --: 77--- _a

0 4AL.. 0 )....

a c? c-40

0 01 7-C)

0- a cc)

,-"°.w,l,'1.1. ":.tr. ' 4 - ..,','',,j': ,,,,,,..,CASkVi';`itgc-ela.''''':',4,411

''',1,,4.Nt4.;?"....k10' ': ,......

,

,. 1 , ,, ,....",.,. '44,44t.',,,,,,,,,,,,,t,L, tii,"..tql....44;."

(40qtr....,,v ,,'",,,41,.'" 1 Lo- ;', -,..,..N'"t''4';''.,, " i. ".44.4.,4141,...;,:, ......;,..,;,,, 4^:,:f..-iP444t.' 1 ' , ,' ,.",,''''.''T.,',,,,t,'ii."4,A)r ,',;:1-1:,-,,,,,,,O,

4

^ " ,,

C03

a.

Ea 0a (00 g.)Z -.1'

Chart 8.The geographicLocation ofThe poor1970The poor are located throughoutlargest concentration C.11 be found

approximately 45 percent of allnearly 20 percent of all persons

TABLE 8.

the United States. However, thein the South. In 1970

the poor lived in the South andin the South were poor.

Number (000)

TotalNortheastNorth CentralSouthWest

25,5224,2185,866

11,4803,955

20

PercentPercent poor

in region

100.0 12.6

16.5 8.723.0 10.345.0 18.515.5 11.3

West Northeast4.0 million persons were poor 4.2 million persons were poor

accounting for accounting for15.5 percent of all the poor 13.5 percent of all the poorin the Nation and in the Nation and11.3 percent of all persons 8.7 percent of all personsin this region North Central in this region

5.9 million persons were pooraccounting for

23.0 percent of all the poorin the Nation and

10.3 percent of all personsin this region

South




11

Chart 9.The incidenceof povertyby selected groups1970

Although the poor have been identified, it is also important to knowNhat groups in the Nation's population have the greatest incidence ofpoverty. Among some of the groups which compose the povertypopulation in 1970

39 percent of all persons in female headed families were poor34 percent of all unrelated individuals were poor34 percent of all blacks were poor25 percent of all elderly persons were poorand 24 percent of all persons of Spanish origin we, -.: poor.

TABLE 9.Total in

population (000)Total

poor (000)Percentpoor

Persons in female headed families 19,797 7,620 38.5Unrelated individuals 15,721 5,388 34.3Blacks 22,810 7,737 33.9Elderl} 19,254 4,709 24.5Persons of Spanish origin 8,956 2,177 24.3Children, less than 16 62,696 10,033 16.0A li persons 202,854 25,886 12.8Women, 16 to 64 62,576 6.789 10.8Whites 177,626 17,748 10.0Persons in male headed families 167,335 12,879 7.7Men, 16 to 64 58,331 4,355 7.5

Perccrn. poor roue

Persons in female 38.5%ne3ded iamshes

Un,elated 34.3%

Backs -

Edeii

Pt.rson. of Spar ongm

Children. less than 16 16.0%

rsons 12.8%

Women. 16 to 64 10.8%

Whts 10.0%

Persons in maleheaded farmlies 7.7%

Men, 16 to 64 7 5%

24.5%

J

Some selected characteristics

of the poor

The many factors which account for persons

being poor are often interrelated. Large

families; low skill and educational

levels; the lack of full-time, year round

work; and poor health, for example, all

affect the socio-economic situation of

poor persons, to varying degrees. It is

understandable, therefore, why so many

poor families become dependent on welfare

and other forms of outside economic help.

The next few charts contrast some of

these c'aracteristics and those of the

nonpoor population.

0.

Chart 10.The averagefamily sizeof poor andnonpoor families1970

S. ih

,t1 55,

.;1i, /5 \\

1', '

I), "I` ',';1 !;,,i (.

1 ! ,i''.

ipoi), 1),,,,. hi, k ,,P,,, : ,11;:,, i Nt'llit't,t tr

(1)(4) 1 ' Mi)()) ( 0! h 1 ; I (ut }i )-- - -t.--_--2s; :;)(, r, NtIS 13 3113 !

i

i s(` (;3.

`),(t2 -..::) 4-, '71 t' : .i.: (1(1.:

C :tite, 1 44S 01 1

i

16.'19

,1

"

lf,

Chart 11.

Years of schoolcompleted forthe poor andnonpoor, age 22and over1970

The educational level of the adult poor is low relative to the nonpoorpopulation. In 1970

1 of every 2 poor persons, age 22 and over, had completed 8 yearsor less of school compared to only 1 of every 5 among the nonpoor.

only about 3 of every 10 poor persons had completed 12 or moreyears of schooling compared to somewhat more than 6 of every 10of the nonpoor.

TABLE 11.

Poor NonpoorNumber Number(000) Percent (000) Percent

Total 13,273 100.0 105.610 100.0No school 509 3.8 734 0.71 to 8 years 6,401 48.2 21,252 20.19 to 11 years 2,492 18.8 17,185 16.312 years 2,504 18.9 39,651 37.5College, 1 year or more 1,367 13.3 26,788 25.4

C(s) F5 >'.--1 0

e E4,0R

t4

PA_

0

"

0'44,7A eY'41"r7k

.f,t1

-;z0:,

.

4 IV. 'Ski 9 Xi-144.

44-F4';')Lre:11'''"

Chart 12.The poor andnonpoor'sattachment tothe work force*1970Although a larger proportion of the nonpoor work compared to thepoor, the greater concentration among the poor of children. elderly,ill and disabled. and persons (14 to 64 }ears of age ) who are inschool accounts for much of the difference. Only a very small pro-portion of the poor who could be working are not working. In 1970

children, the elderly, ill and disabled, and those in school (age14 to 64) accounted for 64 percent of the total poor but 40 percentof the nonpoor.

those poor persons who possibly could be working, but are not( those age 14 to 54 who did not work, go to school, or were ill ordisabled) accounted for 12 percent of the poverty population, andthe xast majority were women with household responsibilities.

TABLE ;2.Poor Non oor

Number

0

PercentN umber

(000) Percent

Total 25,886 100.0 176,968 100.0

Children, less than 14 8,905 34.4 45,707 25 8Elderly. 65 and oxer 4.709 18.2 14.545 8.2111 and disabled, 14 to 64 1,208 4.7 1.941 1.1

In school, 14 to 64 1,698 6.6 9,337 5.3Do not work, go to school,or were not ill or disabled,age 14 to 64 3,177 12.3 19,057 10.8

Males 356 1.4 1.076 0.6Females 2.821 10.9 17,980 10.2

Worked, itge 14 to 64 * 6,190 23.9 86,378 48.8

' Includes those in the Armed Forces living off post of with their families on post.

;(1

tnan 14 34 4°'

Eidn 6'.-., and over 18 2°

Poor personscez

Nonpoor persons

disab',-.:d. 14 to 6i 4.7%

In 14 to 64 6.6%

Do not .vork o Male 1.4%rc school. orNeff: not in or

Fnlate 90.,

14 to C4

Work,d, < 1; to 64 23 9`0

..

Chart 13.The Full-time,part-time statusof the poorand nonpoor,who worked,age 14 and over1970

Of the poor, age 14 and over who worked, the majority were employedin jobs providing less than year round, full-time employment. In 1970

3 out of 4 pool r:co-ple who worked, did so in either part-time jobsor full-time jobs for less than a full year.

only 1 of every 4 of the working poor worked 35 hours a weekor more for 50 to 52 weeks, but still remained poor.

TABLE 13Poor Nonpoor

Number Number(000) Percent (000) Percent

Total worked * 6,716 100.0 89,231 100.0Full-time, year round 1,624 24.2 50,373 56.5Full-time, part year 2,333 34.7 20,243 22.7Part-time 2.759 41.1 18,614 20.9* Excludes those in the Armed Forces living of post or with their families on post.

Working poor

Part-time

Working nonpoor

Part-time

Full-timepart year

Full-timeyear round

Full-timepart year

Full-timeyear round

Chart 14.Occupationof longest jobfor the poorand nonpoor,who worked, age 14and over1970

Among the poor persons that work only a small proportion worked inhigh skilled occupations. In 1970

only 2 of every 10 worked in a white-collar or skilled occupationcompared to slightly more than 5 out of every 10 nonpoor persons.

TABLE 14Poor(000) Percent

Nonpoor(000) Percent

Total worked * 6,716 100.0 89,321 100.0White-collar and skilled

wage and salary 1,437 21.3 48,411 54.3Semi-skilled wage and salary 871 13.0 14,278 16.0Unskilled wage and salary 599 8.9 4,829 5.4Farm wage and salary 571 8.5 1,292 1.4Service wage and salary 1,701 25.3 12,171 13.6Self-employed (farm and other) 1,091 16.2 6,641 7.4Lipid family workers 444 6.6 1,612 1.8

Excludes those in the Aimed Forces living off post of with their families on post

3.1

Poor .A,ort*rs Noneoor workers

Si_if-emplo It d workers

Unpaid family vvorkers

16.0%

\ 11'

,-,;euiiier4Jc4egtgr a isam °.

-

7.4°/0

1 8%

Chart 15.Sources ofaggregate familyincome reported by poorand nonpoorfamilies1969

Due to many of the factors just discussed, the earning power of poorfamilies is limited. This is reflected by the types of incomes which poorfamilies receive. In 1969

only 50 percent of the poor families' reported aggregate income wasclerked from earnings, compared to 90 percent for the nonpoor.

income from Social Security, railroad retirement and public as-sistance accounted for nearly 40 percent of the aggregate income ofall poor families.

TABLE 15.Poor Nonpoor

Dollars Dollars(millions) Percent (millions) Percent

Total income $10,636 100.0 $531,298 100.0Earnings 5,488 51.6 477,637 89.9Income other than earnings 5,148 48.4 53,661 10.1

Social seLurity, govern-mcnt railroad retirement 2,074 19.5 14,345 2.7Public assistance 2,010 18.9 1,594 0.3All other income 1,064 10.0 37,722 7.1

36

Nonpoor'saggregateincome

Poor'saggregateincome

Social Security,Gov't R.R.retirement

Publicassistance

Income otherthan earnings

\Tr 'IAll otherincome otherthan earnings

Earnings

Chart 16.Income deficitsof poor families1970

CHART 16.INCOME DEFICITS *OF POOR FAMILIES-1970

Not all poor families are poor to the same degree. Some families wouldrequire only a small increase in income to move out of poverty, butothers would require substantial amounts. In 1970

one quarter of all poor families would have needed from only $1to $499 to escape poverty, but

another quarter would have needed $2,000 or more.

TABLE 16.Poor

Percent00.24.921.327.526.3

1 ota J,SI to 499 deficit 1,298$500 to 999 deficit 1,11151.000 to 1.999 deficit 1,43452,000 and over 1,371

Income de tcits repicsen' the di etcnecs etwecn t - total incomes of familieswho are poor and their ;espective poverty lines

/''Aiilai .1,Vir,zi ".""!':',"4/V:t0;e9C.M.,?

. ... ...riv.....t.5.4., ;:.0. . ..,

W*110A,

.4-.... .,..,

(....) (...)

,---- 5.7-

-0 -0CT) C.7)

C0.. ......

.--.. C....)

,rikr

.7e

Frequently mentioned poverty groups

Among the poor in our Nation there are some

groups which are frequent mentioned when

the topic of powerty arises. These groups

of persons--the elderly poor, the working

poor, poor children, and poor female.family

heads--are poor for somewhat different

reasons.

The elderly 222r are isolated from the

rest of society because of their age, weak

family ties, and lack of earning power.

The working poor, on the other hand,

lack the necessary skills, educational

background and/or opportunity to provide

them with economic self sufficiency.

For poor children their poverty is usually

the direct result of the problems which

lt confront the head of their family.

Poor female family heads, while having

to provide sole support of their families

in most cases, are often constrained from

doing so because of their low skill levels

and the pressence of small children in

their families.

The next series of charts depicts some

of the more salient characteristics of

each of these groups.

Chart 17.The elderlypoor and nonpoorby family status1970

Social isolation among the elderly poor (65 years and over) is a

major problem because so many of them are individuals, who livealone or with nonrelatives. In 1970

nearly 6 of every 10 elderly poor persons were unrelated individ-uals. Only 2 of every 10 elderly tic .poor persons were unrelatedindividuals.

'FABLE 17.Poor Nonpoor

Number(000) Percent

Number(000) Percent

Total 4,709 100.0 14,545 100.0Family heads 1,166 24.8 6,009 41.3Spouses and other

family members 809 17.2 5,462 37.6Unrelated individuals 2,735 58.1 3,073 21.1

42

ElderlyPoor

Family heads

17.2% Spouses other(0.8 mil.) family members

Unrelatedindividuals

ElderlyNonpoor

37.6%(5.5 mil.)

Family heads

Spouses otherfamily members

Unrelated individuals

44

Chart 18.The workingpoor and nonpoorage 14 to 64,by family status1970

As was shown earlier, nearly all of the poor who could work do work.While it might be thought that most of the working poor are male headsof families and wives, as is true among the nonpoor, in 1970

only slightly more than 4 out of 10 of the working poor were malefamily heads and wives compared to nearly 7 out of 10 among thenonpoor.

the remainder were female family heads. unrelated individuals, andother family members (mainly youths who are neither family heads norwives).

Table 18.Poor Nonpoor

Number(000) Percent

Number(000) Percent

Total 6,119 100.0 85,285 100.0Male family heads 1,789 29.2 35,636 41.8Female family heads 811 13.3 2,618 3.1Wives 838 13.7 21,335 25.0Other family members 1,404 22.9 19,012 22.3Unrelated individuals 1,275 20.8 6,686 7.8* Excludes those in the Armed Forces living off post or with their families on post.

Working poorage 14 to 64 Female family

heads13.3%

Unrelatedindividuals2U8%(1.3 mil.)

Male familyheads29.2%

Other familymembers22.9%(1.4 mil.)

Working nonpoorage 14 to 64

Unrel. indivs.7.80/0

<,"

Other familymembers22,3%(19.0 mii.)

Female family heads3,1%, (2.6 mil.)

Wives25.0%(21.3 mil,)

Wives13.7%(0.8 mil.)

Malefamilyheads41.8%(35.6 mil.)

Chart 19.Poor andnonpoorchildren,Cess than 16,by sex and colorof family head1970

The vast majority of nonpoor children are members of white maleheaded families, but this is not the case for poor children. In 1970

only 31/2 of every 10 poor children lived in white male headedfamilies.

nearly 4 out of 10 of all poor children lived in black or other non-white families.

Table 19,Poo Nonpo r

Number(000) Percent

Number(000) Percent

Total 10,033 100.0 52,663 100.0In male headed families 5,187 51.7 49,118 93.3

White 3,621 36.1 44,276 84.1Black & other nonwhites 1,566 15.6 4,842 9.2

In female headed families 4,440 44.3 3,544 6.7White 2,101 20.9 2,474 4.7Black & other nonwhites 2,339 23.3 1,070 2.0

Unrelated individuals 406 4.0

4()

Poor Children

in white femaleheaded families20.9%(2.1 mil )

in black and othernonwhite femaleheaded families23.3%(2 3 mil.)

Nonpoor Children

Unrelatedindividuals4.0% (0.4 mil.)

in white maleheaded famii es36.1°0(36 mil.)

in black and othermale headed families15.6%(1.6 mil.)

in white femaleheaded families4.7% (2.5 mil.)

in black and other nonwhitefemale headed families2.0% (1.1 mil.)

in black and other nonwhitemale headed families9.2% (4.8 mil.)

in white maleheaded families84.1%(44.3 mil.)

Chart 20.Personsin poor andnonpoor femaleheaded familiesby age1970

The large proportion of childrenespecially preschool age childrenin poor families headed by females undoubtedly deters many poorfemale heads of families from working. In 1970

22 percent of all persons in poor female headed families werechildren less than 6 years of age and about 30 percent were children ofages 6 to 13.

in contrast, only about 8 percent of all persons in nonpoor femaleheaded families were children less than 6, and only 16 percent werechildren 6 to 13 years of age.

Table 20.

Poor Nonpoor


Total 7,620 100.0 12,177 100.0Children, less than 6 1,653 21.7 918 7.5Children, age 6 to 13 2,287 30.0 2,001 16.4Persons, age 14 to 21 1,238 16.2 2,479 20.4Persons, age 22 and over 508 6.7 -/ ,763 22.7Female family heads 1,934 25.4 4,016 33.0

45

Poor persons infemale headed families

Female familyheads254%

Persons, age22 and over6.7%(0.5 mil.)

Persons, age14 to 2116.2%

Nonpoor persons infemale headed families 7.5% (0.9 mil.)

Cnildren,less than 621.7%(1.7 mil.)

Children,age 6 to 1330.0%

Children less than 6

Female familyheads33.0%(4.0 neiil )

-

Children,age 6 tc 1316.4%(2.0 mil.)

Persons, age22 and over Persons,

22.7% age 14 to 21(2.8 mil.) 20.4

(2.5 mil.)

The increase in the poverty population

between 1969 and 1970

The number of poor persons in our Nation

rose slightly in 1970, after declining

steadily throughout most of the 1960's.

The slump in economic activity, together

with the continuing rise in the cost of

living, were the probable causes of this

increase.

The net increase in the poverty popul-

ation amounted to about 1.2 million persons.

Although we do not have statistics on the

number of persons who exited from or

ent,ared poverty in 1970, it is possible

to make some generalizations about which

groups among the poor accounted for the

net increase.

These charts, therefore, will reflect

not only the increase in poverty in 1970,

but also the groups who were affected.

Chart 21.The Numberof Poor Persons1969 and 1970

The number of poor persons in this country, after falling steadilythroughout the sixties, rose by 1.2 million persons between 1969 and1970. About 87 percent of this increase occurred among persons livingin families.

Table 21.1970 1969 Change(000) (000) (000)

Total 25,886 24,656 1,230Persons in families 20,499 19,429 1,070Unrelated individuals 5,388 5,226 162

i2

Millions ofpoor persons

26.0

25.0

24.0

T

1.0

Unrelated individuals,13.0%

=I Persons in families,87.0%

1969 1970

Chart 22.The numberof poor personsliving in familiesby colorand sexof family head1969 and 1970

Persons living in families headed by black and other nonwhite femalesexperienced the greatest increase in poverty relative to their size in thepoverty population. Between 1969 and 1970

poor persons living in families headed by black and other nonwhitefemales increased by 450,000.

Table 22.1970(000)

1969(000)

Change(000)

Total 20,499 19,429 1,070Persons in familieswhere head is

Male, white 9,593 9,106 487Female, white 3,771 3,592 179

Male, black and othernonwhite

3,286 3,331 45

Female, black and othernonwhite

3,849 3.400 449

54


10.0

Color andsex of

family head

Male.white

'69

Female,white

Male, blackand othernonwhite

Female, blackand othernonwhite

Chart 23.The numberof poor personsliving infamilies by relationshipto family head1969 and 1970

One of the most unfortunate aspects of poverty is the large number ofchildren it affects. This is particularly evident when poverty increases.Between 1969 and 197011 poor children, less than 4, accounted for about 550,000 of the1.1 million increase in poo persons living in familiesabout 5 ofevery 10.

TABLE 23.1970

(000)1969

(030)Change(000)

Total 20A99 19,429 1,070Persons in families:

Family heads, 14 to 64 4,048 3,709 339Family heads, 65 i-,nd over 1,166 1,239 -73Children, under 14 8,540 7.993 547Other family members,

14 to 64 5,936 5,601 335Other family members,

65 and over 809 888 -79

56


90

80

60

50

40

3.0

2.0

1.0

Legend

'69

'70

Persons Family Family Children Other Otherin families heads, heads, less than family family

14 to 64 65 and 14 members. members,over 14 to 64 65 and over

Chart 24.The numberof poor personsby metropolitanand nonmetropolitanareas1969 and 1970

As was shown earlier, the poor are concentrated in central cities andnonmetropolitan areas. However, between 1969 and 1970a about 53 percent of the total increase in the number of poorpersons occurred in the suburbs of our metropolitan areas.

TABLE 24.1970

(000)1969

(000)Change(000)

Total 25.52? 24.289 1.231Metropolitan areas 11,378 12,320 1,058

Central cities 8,165 7,760 4C5Suburbs 5,213 4,560 653

Nonmetrooplitan areas 12,142 11,969 173

5s

0 o0 0fa v>

o=2

LSD

.'"? 4t, Mr4

A

,,"-4,-,

Cklikatj, 5 ,

In.'4 C.

I I II I I I I

c> cD. " c> p c> c).ci 7-1 Ori CO1-1

ln

11.

'A7

Co

J)

CCO

00

2

Trends in the poverty population over

the past decade

Between 1960 and 1970, the poverty

population fell from 39.9 million to 25.5

million and the proportion of the Nation's

population which was poor from 22.2 to

12.6 percent.

As poverty was reduced over the past

10 years, however, the composition of the

poor population changed. In general, it

appears that the poverty population in

1970 was composed of a larger proportion

of unrelated individuals and families

headed by women and a smaller proportion

of families headed by men. Furthermore,

it appears that the greater ability of

male family heads to obtain work relative

to female family heads has been responsible

for this change.

The next few charts depict some of

these changes.

4

Chart 25.The number ofpoor persons1959 to 1970

Despite the 1969-1970 experience, poverty declined significantly duringthe past decade. Not only has the number of poor persons been re-duced dramatically, but so has the proportion of the Nation's popula-tion that is poor.

TABLE 25.Number (000) Percent of total so sulation

1970 25,522' 12.6r1969 24,289' 12.2r1968 25,389r 12.8r1967 27,769' 14.2r1966 28,510' 14.7r1966 30,424 1.,.71965 33,185 17.31964 36,055 19.01963 36,436 19.51962 38,625 21.01961 39,628 21.91960 39,851 22.21959 39,490 22.4

' Excludes unrelated individuals under 14 years of age.r Based on improved methodology for processing income data. See footnote 2

on page 70.

01

Millions ofPoor persons

40.0 r Number

30.0

20.0

10.0

Percent

Percent oftotal population

40.0%

r

'59 '60 '61 '62 '63 '64 '65 '66 '67 '68 '69 '70

30.0%

20.0%

10.0%

Chart 26.The poorby family status1960 and 1970

The reduction in the total number of poor persons in the past decadehas been accounted for, primarily, by persons in male headed families.Consequently, in 1970

poor persons in male headed families represented S out of every10 poor persons. compared to 7 out of 10 in 1960.

poor persons in female headed families and unrelated individualsit:presented 5 of every 10 poor persons, but in 1960 they accountedfor only 3 of every 10.

TABLE 26.1970 19 60

Number(000) Percent

Number(000) Percent

Total 25,522 100.0 39,851 100.0Persons in male

headed families 12,879 50.5 27,678 69.5Persons in female

headed families 7,620 29.9 7,247 18.2Unrelated individuals.

age 14 and over 5,023 19.7 4,926 12.4

64

Poor persons1970

Unrel. Individuals,age 14 andover19.7%(5.0 mil.)

Persons infemale headedfamilies29.9%(7.6 mil.)

Poor persons1960

,

Unrel. Individuals,age 14 andover12.4%(4 9 mil.)

Persons infemale head-ed families18.2%(7.2 mil.)

Persons inmale headedfamilies50.5%(12.9 mil.)


.

IN,

Chart 27.The numberof poor familiesby work statusof the familyhead1960 to 1970

The greater likelihood of male family heads relative to female familyheads to obtain work has accounted for their greater success in escap-ing poverty during the past decade. Between 1960 and 1970

the number of families in poverty decreased by 2.9 million andnearly all of this decline occurred among families headed by males

who worked.

TABLE 27.1970

(000)1960

(000)Change(000)

Total 5A58 8,097 2,939Worked 2,865 5,719 2,854

Male 2,026 4,828 2,802Female 838 891 53

Did not work 2,293 2,378 85

Excludes those family heads in the Armed Forces who live off post or with theirfamilies on post.

00

Millions of poorfamily heads

5.0

40

30

2.0

1.0

Family heads who worked Family headsMale Female who did not

work

Chart 28.Poor femalefamily headsas a proportionof allpoor family headsby color1960 and 1970

Among poor families, therefore, (both white and the black other non-whites), the female headed family has become more common. Between1Q60 and 1970

the proportion of all poor white families headed by females rosefrom 21 to 30 percent and

for black and other nonwhite families, from 33 to 55 percent.

TABLE 28.1970 1960

Allfamilyheads

Femalefamilyheads

Percentfemale

Allfamilyheads

Femalefamilyheads

PercentFemale

(000) (000) (000) (000)Total 5,214 1,934 37.1 8,243 1,955 23.7

Whites 3,701 1,097 29.6 6,115 1,252 20.5Blacks and other

nonwhites 1,513 837 55.3 2,128 703 33.0

6S

Percent of poor familiesheaded by females

50.0

40.0

30.0

20.0

10.0

'60

All families White. families

Black and othernonwhite families

(19

70

FOOTNOTES

' Throughout the chartbook and statistical tables two different levelsof the number of poor persons in 1970 will be observed-25.9 mil-lion and 2:,.5 million. The differenceabout 400,000 individualsrepresents children who are under 14 years of age and are unrelatedindividuals. These persons are included in the special tabulation thatthe Bureau of the Census provides the Office of Economic Oppor-tunity (the former total) but excluded in the tabulations which theCensus Bureau publishes (the latter total). Most of the charts andtables are based on the 0E0 special tabulations because detailedpoverty statistics from the Census Blireau were not available at thetime of this writing.

2 The historical series of the number of poor persons, as shown inChart 25 and Table 25, reflects revisions made over recent years inthe definition of poverty as well as improvements in the statisticalprocessing of income statistics. With regard to the former, two basicchanges were made; first, all poverty lines from the base year 1963were adjusted on the basis of the Consumer Price Index; and second.poverty lines for farm families and individuals were raised from 70 to85 percent of corresponding nonfarm poverty lines. The combinedimpact of these two revisions resulted in a net increase of 360,000poor families aid 1.6 million poor persons in 1967. The present his-torical data 1..flects these changes. Regarding improvements in theprocessing of income statistics, the Bureau of the Census in 1966introduced improved editing and allocation procedures. The mainfeature involved a more refined method for imputing missing incomeinformation. Because of coding errors in the processing of 1967 incomestatistics it was not possible to apply the above mentioned improve-ments to that year's data. Poverty statistics for that year, therefore,arc not strictly comparable for those shown for 1966 and subsequentyears. Despite these revisions and modifications it is still felt that thechanges in the poverty population discussed in Section 5 are still gen-erally valid. For a more detailed explanation of these revisions andimprovements, see "24 Million Americans.Poverty in the UnitedStates: 1969," Current Population Reports, Series P-60, No. 76,Bureau 3f the Census. U.S. Department of Commerce.

(()V PI+INT TV, (*If I( I 172 0 4 `,4 7 60

DOCUMENT RESUME

ED 072 902 RC 006 794


Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation.REPORT NO 0E0-Pam-1405-12PUB DATE [72]NOTE 64p.

EDRS PRICE MF-$0.65 HC-$3.29DESCRIPTORS *Census Figures; Charts; *Demography; *Economic




THE POOR I\ 1970: A C

c

N-CD

U S DEPARTMENT OF 4t.ALTH,EDUCATION & WELrAREOFFICE OF EDUCATION

THIS DOCUMENT HAS BEEN RSPRODUCED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED FROMTHE PERSON OR ORGANIZATION ORIGINATINO IT POINTS OF VIEW OR OPINIONS STATED 00 NOT NECESSARILYREPRESENT OFFICIAL OFFICE OF EDUCATION POSITION OR POLICY

ARTBO0K

--rt

.-!AAR 8 1,;13 ..)

MACDEOA

OLEOA \

h.: C. \e/

AO

A AA01111ACEAM

The Poor 1970:A Chartbook

Office ofPlanning.Reseaich, andhaluation


r( )

_/.-.7\

hECEiVE0

MAR 8 1973((IA

E. It J. C.

0E0 P ,smphlost 140512

I

i

NOTE

I he analyses in this presentation book were prepared by Paul M.Ryscavage of the Policy Research Division in the Office of Planning,Research, and Evaluation, Office of Economic Opportunity.

The poverty statistics that were used are based on data from theCurrent Population Survey of the Bureau of the Census. Thesestatistics reflect incomes of families and individuals which fall belowspecified income levels or poverty lines. These lines are adjusted to takeaccount of such factors as family size, sex and age of the familyhead, number of children and farm-nonfarm residence. In 1970, thepo%erty line for a nonfarm family of four, headed by a male wasS3,970. Each year all poverty lines are adjusted by the ConsumerPrice Index so as to reflect changes in the cost of living.

For more detailed information relating to the definition of povertyor explanations of various terms used in the chartbook, see "24Million AmericanPoverty in the United States: 1969," CurrentPopulatioa Reports, Series P-60, No. 76, Bureau of the Census, U.S.Department of Commerce.

INTRODUCTION

Until the early 1960's, there was a general belief that poverty wasnot a problem in this country. Then pmerty was discovered, am'ever since it has been a subject of concern and controarsy.

The concern and contioversy, of course, stemmed from the magni-tude of the problem and the ways to fight it. Poverty was reducedsubstantially during the sixties, but the public discussion, if anything,heightened. With the exception of the war in Southeast Asia, no othertopic ha' been discussed as widely and as heatedly from the hallsof Congress to the street corners of our smallest towns.

Setting the debate aside. poN,erty is still a problem today. Whilethis problem is plain enough to see in our urban ghettos and partsof rural America, its totality can be seen in the poverty statisticsthat the Federal Government issues each year. Indeed, the statisticsissued this spring showed that the number of poor persons increasedby 1.2 million in 1970. reinforcine the fact that povei ty is still a




10 million children were poor, about 1 of 6,nearly 8 million blacks were poor. or one-third of all blacks in

the country,and 2.2 million Americans of Spanish origin were poor, or 1 out

of every 4.Furthermore. as we enter the 1970's. it is also important to clearup the misconceptions about the nature of poverty that have beenspi,wned in the past. According to these misconceptions, for example,poverty v 3 primarily a black problem, or a problem solely of theinner city, or that the poor were simply lazy, preferring to live offthe dole rather than work. But as will be shown, in 1970:


our metropolitan areas,II and practically all of the poor who could reasonably be expectedto work, were working.The charts in this book, therefore, are intended to do two things:to inform and to educate. As is known, this Administration is com-mitted to a policy that will provide the poor with the help andassistance they need to remove themselves from poverty It is myhope, therefore, that these charts will contribute to a better under-standing of the challenge that confronts us and the job to whichwe are committed. Phillip V, Sanchez

Director

TABLEOFCONTENTS

PageSECTION 1. WHO ARE THE POOR?Chart 1. The Poor by Age and Sex-1970 7

Chart 2. The Poor by Race. and Ethnic Origin-1970 0

Chart 3. The White and Black Poor by Age and Sex-1970 11


Chart 5. Poor Unrelated Individuals by Age and Sex-1970 15


Chart 7. The Poor by Metropolitan and NonmetropolitanAreas-1970 19

Chart 8. Th: Geographic Location of the Poor-1970 21

Chart 9. The Incidence of Poverty by Selected Groups-1970 23

SECTION 2. SOME SELECTED CHARACTERISTICSOF THE POOR

Chart 10. The Average Family Size of Poor and NonpoorFamilies-1970

Chart 11. Years of School Completed for the Poor andNonpoor, Age 22 and Over-1970

Chart 12. The Poor and Nonpoor's Attacknent to theWork Force-1970

Chart 13. The Full-um:, Part-time Status of the Poor andNonpoor Who Worked, Age 14 and Over-1970

Chart 14. Occupation of Longest Job for the Poor andNonpoor Who Worked, Age 14 and Over-1970

Chart 15. Sources of Aggregate Family Income Reported byPoor and Nonpoor Fain.dies-1969

Chart 16. Income Deficits of Poor Families-1970

li

17

19

3(1

k

SECTION 3. FREQUENTLY MENTIONED POVERTYGROUPS 4i


Chart 18. The Working Poor and Nonpoor. Age 14 to 64,by Family Status-1970 45

Chart 19. Poor and Nonpoor Children, Under 16, by Sexand Color of Family Head-1970 '

Chart 20. Persons in Poor and Nonpoor Female HeadedFamilies by Age 49

SECTION 4. THE INCREASE IN THE POVERTYPOPULATION BETWEEN 1969 AND 1970 51

Chart 21. The Number of Poor Persons -1969 and 1970 53Chart 22. The Number of Poor Persons Living in Families by

:2olor and Sex of the Family Head-1-69 and 1970 55Chart 23. l'he Number of Poor Persons Living in Families by



SECTION 5. TRENDS IN THE POVERTY POPULATIONOVER THE PAST DECADE 61

Chart 25. The Numbei of Poor Persons-1959 to 1970 63Chart 26. The Poor by Family Status-1960 and 1970 65Chart 27. The Number of Poor Families by Work Status of

the Family Head-1960 and 1970 67Chart 28. Poor Female Heads as a Proportion of All Poor

Family Heads by Color-1960 and 1970 69

Who are the poor?

The following series of charts identifiesthe poor by a variety of demographic characteristics:age, sex, race, family status, metropolitan--

nonmetropolitan areas, and geographic location.

It will be observed at the outset thatthe poor are primarily women, children, and theelderly. Other statistical breakdowns showthat most of the poor are white and live in


The last chart in this section indicatesthe incidence of poverty among various groupsof the poor. It shows that not all persons

in our country have the same chance of being


blacks, female headed families, and the elderly

and unrelated individuals.*


live alone or with others to whom they arenot related.

Chart 1.The poor byage and sex1970

The poor totaled 25.9 ' million persons in 1970, and represented12.8 percent of the Nation's population.*The poverty population is composed primarily of children (less than16 years of age), women (age 16 to 64) ind the elderly (age 65and over). in 1970

nearly 4 out of every 10 poor persons were children,nearly 2 out of every 10 were elderly am'.1 out of 4 was a female, age 16 to 64.

TABLE 1.Total

Number (000)Total 25,886'

Children, less thin 16 10,033Males, 16 to 64 4,355Females, 16 to 64 6,789Elderly, 65 and over 4,709

Percent100 3

38.816.826.218.2

'See footnote on page70.`Because: tl*e absolute numbers and percentages have been rounded, they maynot add to the totals in the charts or tables.


Blacks and persons of Spanish origin account for a disproportionateshare of all poor persons. While blacks represent slightly more than10 percent of all persons in,the Nation, they make up about 30 percentof the poverty copulation. Persons of Spanish oridn account for about4 percent of all persons but nearly 9 percent of the poor. The vastmajority (97 percent) of poor persons of Spanish origin are white.

TABLE 2.Dotal

Number (000)Total

WhitesBlacksOther nonwhites *Persons of Spanish origin *

25,52217,4807,650

392

/2,i 77)

Percent

100.068.530.0

1.5

(8.5)

Other nonwhites refer to Indians, Japanese, Chinese and any other race inceptwhite and black. Persons of Spanish origin are those who : ic. of Nlemcan.Chicano, Puerto Rican. Cuban. Centi al of South American, or other Spanishdescent. They may be of any race, but about 97 percent were white. Consequent-ly their addition to u bites, blacks and other nonuhites who are poor will meedthe total poor.

8

',:`":+0rt\ktf,

+A,

4 ' 7.1 14,41+toW ve'tk:*

-r sxr:

'44

A

Chart 3.The white and bla6poor by ageand sex1970




TABLE 3.White Black

Number (000) Percent Number (000) Percent1 otal 17348 100.0 7,737 100.0

Children, less than 16 6.015 33.9 3,833 49.5Males, 16 to 64 3,104 17.5 1,163 15.0Females. 16 to 64 4,647 26.2 2.055 26.6Elderly, 65 and over 3,984 22.4 683 8.8

White poor

Black poor

Males.16 to 6417.5%

Elderly,65 and over22.4%

Males,16 to 6415.0%

Elderly,65 and over8.8%

Females,16 to 6426.6%

Children,less than 1633.9%




2 out of 10 poor persons were unrelated individuals and nearly 3out of 10 lived in a family headed by a woman.

only slightly more than 1 in 10 of the nonpoor were unrelated in-dividuals and members of female headed families.

TABLE 4Poor Nonpoor

Number (000) Percent Number (000) PercentTotal 25,886 100.0 176,968 100.0

Unrelated individuals 5.388 20.8 10.333 5.8In families 20,499 79.2 166,633 94.2

Male headed families 12.879 49.8 154,456 87.3Female headed families 7,620 29.4 12,177 6.9

12

0 00 c0.0=0 0,Z

---sv.'.,414,4. 44.6v.a, ,.. d,r

I4e1" ,,,,....s,":1".r.*ye, }1. '4, 4 ,,,,. , u ' i., IIr.'

e,`041II' 4.,SV

..'" °O?"TAIRA;NNW,

?:,... ...?, ,. .5,,*

, , , t.V., 14.4.1",. .. ,*,4v:1,14q,',,,,,,- , ,

0,4., eb .0.%niksZ.;444t4 'f,t4144", I, to6., .,4::;4

cn

Q) V. :3 __: cn CO :C

( -3C (7) 'V a)

0. ,..°) ,,_ 0 co t.

a 0.o a) D .0 ci.,,D tria . .

Ct..e) 4.-e) .ca) ("-- csic.i ...."..,

- t ,,c, E

+11.1"&t,,11 ,I-77:: 0'44

.!"-A4";;;;',II411IiIIT. 54. '^

c

k

14


01 the 5.4 million unrelated indhiduals who were poor in 1970,

1 out of every 2 was elderlyand 2 out of 5 were elderly women.

TABLE 5.Total

Total

Children, less than 16Males, 16 to 64Females, 16 to 64Males, 65 and overFemales, 65 and over

Number (0001 Percent5.388 100.0

406 7.5856 15.9

1,391 25.8549 10.2

2,186 40.6


Females,65 and over40.6%(2.2 mil.)


Females,16 to 6425.8%(1.4 mil.)

Children,less than 16,7.5%

(0.4 mil.)

/Males,16 to 6415.9%(0.9 mil.)


The remaining 20.5 million poor persons lived in 5.2 million familiesA significantly larger proportion of . poor families are headed by fe-males compared to nonpoor families. This is especially true amongpoor black families. In 1970

37 percent of all poor families and 57 percent of all poor blackfamilies were headed by fcma!es. Only 9 percent of all nonpoor fami-lies were headed by females.


TotalPoor black

family headsNonpoor

family headsNumber(000) Percent


Number( 000 ) Pei cent

TotalMaleFemale

5,2143,2801,934

100.062.937.1

1.445625820

100.043.356.7

46,73942,7234,016

100.091.4

8.6

Nonpoor family headsFemale8.6%(4.0 mil.)

-'A

:e`r ;,,,,j-

Male -4'---,, '-'4-4"-

91.4% --ic.A. ...,:....---..-.4...,,,,,,... ..,

(42.7 mil ) ,,,,...,-,,,.. ,--- g-.--'",:-...:

Poor family heads

Male62.9%(3.3 mil.)


Male43.3%(0.6 mil.)

Female37.10,0(1.9 mil.)



nearly 5 of every 10 poor persons lived in nonmetropolitan areasand

slightly more than 3 of every 10 lived in 'he central cities of metro-pohtan areas.

TABLE 7.Total


Metropolitan areas 13,378 52.4Central Cities 8,165 32.0Suburbs 5,213 20.4

Nonmetropolitan areas 12.142 , 7.6

18

oo

(13

0a.

4-0

0,)

Z -zr

Chart 8.The geographicLocation ofThe poor1970The poor are located throughoutlargest concentration C.111 be found


TABLE 8.



Number (000)

TotalNortheastNorth CentralSouthWest

25,522

4,2185,866

11,4803,955

20

PercentPercent poor

in region

100.0 12.6

16.5 8.723.0 10.345.0 18.515.5 11.3

West4.0 million persons were poor

accounting for15.5 percent of all the poorin the Nation and11.3 percent of all personsin this region North Central

Northeast4.2 million persons were pooraccounting for16.5 percent of all the poorin the Nation and

8.7 percent cf all personsin this region




\

South11.5 million persons were poor

accounting for45.0 percent of all the poorin the Nation and18.5 percent of all personsin this region

k

1 1

Chart 9.The incidenceof povertyby selected groups1970

Although the poor have been identified, it Is also important to knowwhat groups in the Nation's population have the greatest incidence ofpoverty. Among some of the groups which compose the povertypopulation in 1970

39 percent of all persons in female headed families were poor34 percent of all unrelated individuals were poor34 percent of all blacks were poor25 percent of all elderly persons were poorand 24 percent of all persons of Spanish origin we poor.

TABLE 9.Total in


poor (000)Percent

PoorPersons in female headed families 19,797 7,620 38.5Unrelated individuals 15,721 5,388 34.3Blacks 22,810 7,737 33.9Elderly 19,254 4,709 24.5Persons of Spanish origin 8,956 2,177 24.3Children, less than 16 62,696 10,033 16.0All persons 202,854 25,886 12.8Women. 16 to 64 62,576 6.789 10.8Whites 177,626 17,748 10.0Persons in male headed families 167,335 12,879 7.7Men, 16 to 64 58.331 4,355 7.5

Per cc

Persons in femaleheaded families

Ll re ted ndvduas

Percent poor ,P group

- ,Blacks

Prscn ot Spanish origin

Children, less than 16 16.0%

All pc ;sons 12.8%

Women, 16 V 64 10.8%

Whiles s 10.0%

Persons in male7.7%headed families

Men, 16 to 64 7.5%

- 24.5%

34.3%

38.5%

111111


of the poor












these characteristics and those of the

nonpoor population.

1'

4

(hart 10.The averagefamily sizeof poor andnonpoor families1970

r'''' hs..

, 11 1'

71,1

;;; vi.`

f+,

POW Pot 01-1, v;Po,', V.1;I:c.'`, I Nono,I,r(1)(111) (1),H))

- -L: (l)t)',I i (,)fit),: -L -----4---____c., ,,; .441(

1', ...-vi 1:,, ll (` '012

i c v2 14'P. ' . " ()

1', 1,,,- 'ovil, : ,-lik , \I

,, ,,,, :

i

'5,-2') .

13 3c)

c "722

!

i

;

iht) f;1.",

.i:..h().:1 ..-1--; 1 -HI 46 "19

3 7 t. 3 /1

2 () . 1 5..._......._____

1 1.1_____ _...._...

C(i)

=< o_

te'rk;4010Ast/aTw :.Vw`

, A(-,-,"4;4 4.',

o t =o Ea.

< ".kc- ttr cn

" 0 -7:(.2

O co

a Eoz

(r)

IS

3

Chart 11.Years of schoolcompleted forthe poor andnonpoor, age 22and over1970

The educational level of thepopulation. In 1970

1 of every 2 poor persons, ace 22 and over, had completed 8 yearsor less of sanol compared to only 1 of every 5 among the nonpoor.


adult poor is low relative to the nonpoor

TABLE 11.

Poor NonpoorNumber Number(000) Percent (000) Percent

Total 13,273 100.0 105.610 100.0No school 509 3.8 734 0.71 to 8 years 6,401 48.2 21,252 20.19 to 11 years 2,492 18.8 17,185 16.312 years 2,504 18.9 39,651 37.5College, 1 year 'r more 1,367 10.3 26,788 25.4

Zz" E. `0+-.1 ...<41,'0,,,"1"ti'nut CO '

ts3

V CA4).04'' 44, t'

t'..'',447' '

0

0.4..0),

(I)

cc)

(11 4-r)0.4C.)

c0 0

-z11014i.

:Tr

:r,v4vidto Atexcei°74,6' eZNIOtir.o.tearse.

.-10411,4

U)

41,,iirrrg: r

rrOCrett

cp

00 8

i"rtt).'1.104t:3

4,1 -+ .2ccc

10

Chart 12.The poor andnonpoor'sattachment tothe work force*1970Although a larger proportion of the nonpoor work compared to thepoor. the greater concentration among the poor of children, elderly,ill and disabled, and persons (14 to 64 )cars of age) who are inschool accounts for much of the difference. Only a very small pro-portion of the poor who could be working are not working. In 1970

children, the elderly, ill and disabled, and those in school ',age14 to 64) accounted for 64 percent of the total poor but 40 percentof the nonpoor.

those poor persons who possibly could be working, but ?re not( those age 14 to 64 who did not work, go to school, or were ill ordisabled) accounted for 12 percent of the poverty population, andthe %list majority were women with household responsibilities.

TABLE 12.Poor Non oor

Number(000) Percent

Number(000) Percent

Total 25,886 100.0 176,968 100.0

Children, less than 14 8,905 34.4 45,707 25.8Elderly, 65 and over 4,709 18.2 14,545 8.2Ill and disabled, 14 to 64 1,208 4.7 1,941 1.1

In school, 14 to 64 1,698 6.6 9,337 5.3Do not work, go to school,or were not ill or disabled,age 14 to 64 3.177 12.3 19,057 10.8

Males 356 1.4 1,076 0.6Females 2,821 10.9 17,980 10.2

Worked, age 14 to 64 * 6,190 23.9 86,378 48.8

Includes those in the Armed Forces living off post of with their families on post.

iel,s tr.:an 14 3440

Eid:;r,v 65 and oiel 18.2%

ciisab'ed, 14 to 64 4.7%

in .,chool. 14 to 64 6 6°0

Do not :iork goto schcol. or'ore not ii or

d,arAcd. age14 to 6f.

Male 1.4"c.

Female 1O9°

Worked 1; to 64 23 9co

Poor persons Nonpoor ersons

40- !44;;140 44-Vall,;:Pt` 44. '=MEM. ligIMINWNE

4 /Pa515169:,

48.8%


Of the poor, age 14 and over who worked, the majority were employedin jobs providing less than year round, full-time employment. In 1970

3 out of 4 poor people who worked, did so in either part-time jobsor full-time jobs for less than a full year.


TABLE 13Poor Nonppor


Total worked * 6,716 100.0 89,231 100.0Full-time, year round 1,624 24.2 50.373 56.5Full-time, part year 2,333 34.7 20,243 22.7Part-time 2.759 41.1 18.614 20.9* Excludes those in the Armed Forces living off nost or with their families on nost.

Working poor

Part-time

Working nonpoor

Part-time

part year

year round

34.7%.',13,-.14:,,,sc,4_via3 part year

Full-tuneyear round




TABLE 14Poor(000) Percent

Nonpoor(000) Percent


wage and salary 1,437 21.3 48,411 54.3Semi-skilled wage and salaty 871 13.0 14,278 16.0Unskilled wage and salary 599 8.9 4,829 5.4Farm wage and salary 571 8.5 1,292 1.4Sersice wage and salary 1,701 25.3 12,171 13.6Self-employed (farm and other ) 1.091 16.2 6.641 7.4Unpaid family workers 444 6.6 1.612 1.8'- Excludes those in the Armed 'Forces living off post or with their families on post.

',A, 1, andsalary .'iorkers

railte-Co H ar

and skjled

UnskIlled

Farm

Service

Sclf-vimit,,red :,orkr,rs

Poor NonDoor ..,/orkers

unpaid farnij ior kers

\.25.3%k

` \ '\\ 1 1

16.2%

\\ I

16.0%

\\\

tt-4*",,,vc.satrismatrI inn 1.4%-

7.4%

1 8%



only 50 percent of the poor families' reported aggregate income wasderived from earnings, compared to 90 percent for the nonpoor.


TABLE 15.Poor Non poor

too ars lb o ars(millions) Percent (millions) Percent


Social security, govern-ment railroad retirement 2,074 19.5 14,345 2.7Public assistance 2,010 18.9 1,594 0.3All other income 1,064 10.0 37,722 7.1


Earnings




Publicassistance ,..

All otherincome otherthan earnings

Earnings



Not all poor families arc poor to the same degree. Some families wouldrequire only a small increase in income to move out of poverty, butothers would require substantial amounts. In 1970

one quarter of all poor families would have needed from only $1to S499 to escape poverty, but


TABLE 16.Poor

Number(000) Percent

Total 5,214 100.0SI to 499 deficit 1,298 24.9S500 to 999 deficit 1,111 21.:,S1.000 to 1.999 deficit 1,434 27.5S2.000 and over 1.371 26.3

Income deficits represent the differences between ify7;77f incomes of familieswho are poor and their iespeetive poverty lines.

Poor families

$1 to 499 deficit

$500 to 999 deficit

$1,000 to 1.999 deficit

$2.000 and over

Poverty line

AM poor families,100.0%,

3.2 mil.)

Pt



groups w. h are frequently mentioned when

the topic of poverty arises. These groups




reasons.

The elderly poor are isolated from the









confront the head of their family.






their families.





Social isolation among the elderly poor (65 years and over) is amajor problem because so many of them are individuals, who livealone or with nonrelatives. In 1970

nearly 6 of every 10 elderly poor persons were unrelated individ-uals. Only 2 of every 10 elderly nonpoor persons were unrelatedindividuals.


Number(000) Percent

Number(000) Percent

Total 4,709 100.0 14,545 100.0Family heads 1,166 24.8 6,009 41.3Spouses and other

family members 809 17.2 5,462 37.6Unrelated individuals 2,735 58.1 3,073 21.1

A.-

ElderlyPoor

Family heads

17.2% Spouses other(0.8 mil.) family members

ElderlyNonpoor

Unrelated 37.6%individuals (5.5 mil.)

Family heads

Spouses otherfamily members





the remainder were female family heads. unrelated individuals, andother family members (mainly youths who are neither family heads norwives).


Number(000) Percent

Number(000) Percent

Total 6,119 100.0 85,285 100.0Male family heads 1,789 29.2 35,636 41.8Female family heads 811 13.3 2,618 3.1Wives 838 13.7 21,335 25.0Other family members 1,404 22.9 19,012 22.3Unrelated individuals 1,275 20.8 6,686 7.8* Excludes those in the Armed Forces living off post or with their families on post.

44


heads13.3%(0.8 mil.)

Unrelatedindividuals20.8%(1.3 mil.)

Male familyheads29.2%(1.8 mil.)

Other familymembers22.90,;(1.4 mil.)

Working nonpoorage 14 to 64 Female family heads

Unrei. indivs. 31%, (2.6 mil.)7.8%(6.7 mil.)

Other familymembers22,3%(190 mii.)

Wives25.0%(21.3 mil.)


Malefamilyheads41.80.'0

(35.6 mil.)

Chart 19.Poor andnonpoorchildren,less than 16,by sex and colorof family head1970

The vast majority of nonpoor children arc members of white maleheaded families, but this is not the case for poor children. In 1970



Table 19.Po r Nonpo Or

Number(000) Percent

Number(000) Percent

Total 10,033 100.0 52,663 10().0In male headed families 5,187 51.7 49,118 3.3




46

Poor Children

in white femaleheaded families20.9o/0(2 1 mil.)

in black and othernonwhite femaleheaded families23 3%(2 3 mil.)

Nonpoor Children


in white maleheaded families36.1%(36 mil )



in white female .1headed families .....:

4.7% (2.5 mil.)in black and other nonwhitefemale headed families2.0% (1.1 mil.)





in contrast, only about 8 percent of all persons in nonpoor femaleheaded families were children less than 6, and only 16 percent werechildren 6 to 13 years of age.

Table 20.

Poor Nonpoor


Total 7,620 100.0 12,177 100.0Children, less than 6 1,653 21.7 918 7.5Children, age 6 to 13 2,287 30.0 2,001 16.4Persons, age 14 to 21 1,238 16.2 2,479 20.4Persons, age 22 and over 508 6.7 2,763 22.7Female family heads 1,934 25.4 4,016 33.0

48


Female familyheads25.4%

Persons, age22 and over6.7`)/0

(0.5 mil.)Persons. age14 to 2116.2%

Nonpoor persons infemale headed families


Cnildrenless than 621.7%(1.7 mil.)

Children,age 6 to 1330.0%

Children less than 67.5% (0.9 mil.)

`N-

Children,age 6 tc 1316.4%(2.0 mil.)

Persons, age22 and over Persons,22.7% age 14 to 21

(2.8 mil.) 20.4









increase.





entered poverty in 1970, it is possible



net increase.






Table 21.1970 1969 Change(000) (000) (000)

Total 25,886 24,656 1,230Persons in families 20,499 19,429 1,070Unrelated individuals 5,388 5,226 162

52



Persons in f:'milies,87.0%

1969

k

1970




Table 22.1970(000)

1969(000) .:Change

(000)Total 20,499 19,429

Persons in familieswhere head is:

Male, white 9,593 9,106 487Female, white 3,771 3,592 179Male, black and othernonwhite

3,286 3,331 45


3,849 3,400 449

54


10.0

4 0

3,0

2,0

1.0

'69

'70

Color andsex of

family head

Male,bite

Female.white

Male. black Female, blackand other and othernonwhite nonwhite

Chart 23.The numJerof poor personsliving infamilies by relationship

children it affects. This is particularly evident when poverty increases.Eetween 1969 and 1970

poor children, less than 14, accounted for about 550,000 of the

to family head1969 and 1970

One of the most unfortunate aspects of poverty is the large number of

I l million increase in poor persons hying in familiesabout 5 ofevery 10.

TABLE 23.1970

(000)1969(000)

Change(000)

Total 20,499 19,429 1,070Persons in families:

Family heads, 14 to 64 4,048 3,709 339Family heads, 65 and over 1,166 1,239 73Children, under 14 8,540 7,993 547Other family members,


65 and over 809 888 79

56

Mdlion5 ofpoor persons

90

80

6.0

50

40

30

2.0

1.0

Legend

'69

'70


14 to 64 65 and 14 members, members,over 14 to 64 65 and over


As was shown earlier, the poor are concentrated in central cities andnonmetropolitan areas. However. between 1969 and 1970

about 53 percent of the total increase in the number of poorpersons occurred in the suburbs of our metropolitan areas.

TABLE 24.1970

(000)1969

(000)Change(000)

Total 25.527 24.289 1.231Metropolitan areas 13,378 12,320 1,058

Centra. cities 8,165 7,760 405Suburbs 5,213 4,560 653


5s

4,

CD

r i0.1,111 14 14.1,,n+,

I I II I I

C> CD C C:!C cci In

CC)

CD


the past decade





12.6 percent.












for this change.


these changes.



TABLE 25.Number (000) Percent of total so eulation

1970 25,522r 12.6'1969 24,289r 12.2r1968 25,389r 12.8r1967 27,769r 14.2'1966 28,510r 14.7r1966 30,424 15.71965 33,185 17.31964 36,055 19.01963 36,436 19.51962 38,625 21.01961 39,628 21.91960 39,851 22.21959 39,490 22.4

Jr

Fxcludes unrelated individuals under 14 years of age.r Based on improved methodology for processing income data. See footnote 2

on page 70 .

Millions ofPoor persons

40.0 Number

30.0

20.0

10.0


40.0%

'59 '60 '61 '62 '63 '64 '65 '66 '67 '68 '69 '70

30.0%

20.0%

10.0%

6;



poor persons in male headed families represented 5 out of every10 poor persons. compared to 7 out of 10 m 1960.

poor persons in female headed families and unrelated individualsit:presented 5 of every 10 poor persons. but in 1960 they accountedfor only 3 of every 10.

TABLE 26.1970 19 60

Number(000) Percent

Number(000) Percent

Total 25,522 100.0 39,851 100.0Persons in male

headed families 12,879 50.5 27,678 69.5Persons in female

headed families 7,620 29.9 7,247 18.2Unrelated individuals,

age 14 and over 5,023 19.7 4,926 12.4

64

Poor persons1970

Unrei. Individuals.age 14 andover19.7%(5.0 mil.)

Persons infemale headedfamilies29.9%

-e,4'(7.6 mil.)--c--

Persons inmale headedfamilies50.5%

h (12.9 mil.)

Poor persons Unrei. Individuals,1960 age 14 and

over12.4%(4.9 mil.)


Persons inmale headedfamil,es69.5%(27.7 rnil.)

Chart 27.The numberof poor familiesroy work statusof the familyhead1960 to 1970



who worked.

TABLE 27.1970

(000)1960

(000)Change(000)

Total 5,158 8.097 2,939Worked 2,865 5,719 2,854

Male 2,026 4,828 2,802Female 838 891 53

Did not work 2,293 2,378 85

* Excludes those family heads in the Armed Forces who live off post or with theirfamilies on post.

.

61)


5.0

40

3.0

2.0

1.0

'70

'60

Family heads who worked Family headswMale Female who did not

work


Among poor families, therefore. (both white and the black other non-whites). the female headed family has become more common. Between1960 and 1970I the proportion of all poor white families headed by females rosefrom 21 to 30 percent and


TABLE 28.1970 1960

Allfamilyheads

Femalefamilyheads

Percentfemale

Allfamilyheads

Femalefamilyheads

PercentFemale

(000) (000) (000) (000)Total 5,214 1,934 37.1 8,243 1,955 23.7


nonwhites 1,513 837 55.3 2,128 703 33.0

68


'60

'7050.0

40.0

37.143/0

z-4

30.0

=

23.7%20.0

10.0

All families

20.5%

White Black and otherfamilies nonwhite families

70

FOOTNOTES

Throughout the chartbook and statistical tables two different levelsof the number of poor persons in 1970 will be observed-25.9 mil-lion and 25.5 million. The differenceabout 400,000 individualsrepresents children who are under 14 years of age and are unrelatedindividuals. These persons ale included in the special tabulation thatthe Bureau of the Census provides the Office of Economic Oppor-tunity (the former total) but excluded in the tabulations which theCensus Bureau publishes (the latter total). Most of the charts andtables me based on the 0E0 special tabulations because detailedpoverty statistics from the Census Bureau were not available at thetime of this writing.

2 The historical series of the number of poor persons, as shown inChart 25 and Table 25, reflects revisions made over recent years inthe definition of poverty as well as improvements in the statisticalprocessing of income statistics. With regard to the former, two basicchanges were made; first, all poverty lines from the base ye-.4. 1963were adjusted on the basis of the Consumer Price Index; and second.poverty lines for farm families and individuals were raised from 70 f.-

85 percent of corresponding nonfarm poverty lines. The combine,..,impact of these two revisions resulted in a net increase of 360,000poor families and 1.6 million poor persons in 1967. The present his-torical data reflects these ch,,nges. Regarding improvements in theprocessing of income statistics, the Bureau of the Census in 1966introduced improved editing and allocation procedures. The mainfeature involved a more refined method for imputing missing in'..:onieinformation. Because of coding errors in the processing of 1967 incomestatistics it was not possible to apply the above mentioned improve-ments to that year's data. Poverty statistics for that year, therefore,are not strictly comparable for those shown for 1966 and subsequentyears. Despite these revisions and modifications it is still felt that thechanges in the poverty population discussed in Section 5 are still gen-erally valid. For a more detailed explanation of these revisions andimprovements, see "24 Million AmericansPoverty in the UnitedStates: i969," Current Population Reports, Series P-60, No. 76,Bureau of the Census. U.S. Department of Commerce.

toVINNNIt PPINTINC. 01./ I, r ,72 O 454.70

DOCUMENT RESUME

ED 072 902 RC 006 794


Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation.REPORT NO OEO-Pam-1405-12PUB DATE [72]NOTE 64p.

EDRS PRICE MF-.$0.65 HC-$3.29DESCRIPTORS *Census Figures; Charts; *Demography; *Economic




THE POOR IN 1970: A --I1 ii

,

U S DEPARTMENT OF it.ALTH.EDUCATION & WELrAREOFFICE OF EDUCATION

THIS DOCUMENT HAS BEEN REPRODUCED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED FROMTHE PERSON OR ORGANIZATION ORIGMATING IT POINTS OF VIEW OR PPMIONS STATED DO NOT NECESSARILYREPRESENT OFFICIAL OFFICE OF EDUCATION POSITION OR POI ICY

' ,

f," .`

8 ::.113

AO OA 0AEll

ADOOL

ODAMEDAA A

AOMIA-]EDA MA0

The Poor 1970:A Chartbook

01 lice ofPlanning.Reseal& andE Amnion


9,11%3!

RECCA/E0

C\!, MAR 8 1973Nusu

E. R J. C.

)

0E0 P.ompitlet 1405.12

NOTE

l he analyses in this presentation book were prepared by Paul M.Ryscavage of the Policy Research Division in the Office of Planning,Research, and Evaluation, Office of Economic Opportunity.

The poverty statistics that were used are based on data from theCurrent Population Sui vey of the Bureau of the Census. Thesestatistics reflect incomes of families and individuals which fall belowspecified income levels or poverty Imes. These lines are adjusted to takeaccount of such factors as family size, sex and age of the familyhead, number of children and farm-nonfarm residence. In 1970, thepoverty line for a nonfarm family of lour, headed by a male wasS3,970. Each year alt poverty lines are adjusted by the ConsumerPrice Index so as to reflect changes in the cost of living.

For more detailed information relating to the definition of povertyor explanations of various terms used in the chartbook, see "24Million AmericanPoverty in the United States: 1969," CurrentPopulatior Reports, Series P-60, No. 76, Bureau of the Census, U.S.Department of Commerce.

4

INTRODUCTION

Until the early 1960's, there was a general belief that poverty wasnot a problem in this country. Then poverty was discovered, ant'ever since it has been a subject of concern and controversy.

The concern and controversy, of course, stemmed from the magni-tude of the problem and the ways to fight it. Poverty was reducedsubstantially during the sixties, but the public discussion, if anything,heightened. With the exception of the war in Southeast Asia, no othertopic has been discussed as widely and as heatedly from the hallsof Congiess to the stiect corners of our smallest towns.

Setting the debate aside. poverty is still a problem today. Whilethis problem is plain enough to see in our urban ghettos and partsof rural America. its totality can be seen in the poverty statisticsthat the Federal Government issues each year. Indeed, the statisticsissued this spring showed that the number of poor persons increasedby 1.2 million in 1970, reinforcing the fact that poverty is still a




10 million children were poor, about 1 of 6,nearly 8 million blacks were poor, or one-third of all blacks in

the country.and 2.2 million Americans of Spanish origin were poor, or 1 out

of every 4.Furthermore. as we enter the 1970's. it is also important to clearup the misconceptions about the nature of poverty that have beenspl,wned in the past. According to these misconceptions, for example,poverty v 3 primarily a black problem. or a problem solely of theinner city, or that the poor were simply lazy, preferring to live offthe dole rather than work. But as will be shown, in 1970:


our metropolitan areas.and practically all of the poor who could reasonably be expected

to work, were working.The charts in this book, therefore, are intended to do two things:to inform and to educate. As is known, this Administration is com-mitted to a policy that will provide the poor with the help andassistance they need to remove themselves from poverty It is myhope, therefore, that these charts will contribute to a better under-standing of the challenge that confronts us and the job to whichwe are committed. Phillip V. Sanchez

Director

TABLEOFCONTENTS

PageSECTION 1. WHO ARE THE POOR?Chart 1. The Poor by Age and Sex-1970Chart 2. The Poor by Race, and Ethnic Origin -1970Chart 3. The White and Black Poor by Age and Sex-1970 H


Chart 5. Poor Unrelated Individuals by Age and Sex-1970 15


Chart 7. The Poor by Metropolitan and NonmetropolitanAreas-1970

Chart 8. Th; Geographic Location of the Poor-1970 21

Chart 9. The Incidence of Poverty by Selected Groups-1970 23

()

SECTION 2. SOME SELECTED CHARACTERISTICSOF THE POOR

Chart 10. The Average Family Size of Poor and NonpoorFamilies-1970 27

Chart 11. Years of School Competed for the Poor andNonpoor, Age 22 and Over-1970

Chart P. The Poor and Nonpoor's Attachment to theWork Force-1970

Chart 13. The Full-time, Part-time Status of the Pcor andNonpoor Who Worked, Age 14 and Over-1970

Chart 14. Occupation of Longest Job for the Poor andNonpoor Who Worked, Age 14 and Over-1970

Chart 15. Sources of Aggregate Family Income Reported byPoor and Nonpoor Families -1969

Chart 16. Income Deficits of Poor Families-1970

31

33

35

SECTION 3. FREQUENTLY MENTIONED POVERTYGROUPS 41


Chart 18. The Working Pcor and Nonpoor. Age 14 to 64,by Family Status-1970 45

Chart 19. Poor and Nonpoor Children, Under 16, by Sexand Color of Family Head-1970

Chart 20. Persons in Poor and Nonpoor Female HeadedFamilies by Age 49

SECTION 4. THE INCREASE IN THE POVERTYPOPULATION BETWEEN 1969 AND 1970

Chart 21. The Number of Poor Persons-1969 and 1970Chart 22. The Number of Poor Persons Living in Families by

-.2olor and Sex of the Family Head -1 69 and 1970 55Chart 23. Ile Number of Poor Persons Living in Families by



SECTION 5. TRENDS IN THE POVERTY POPULATIONOVER THE PAST DECADE

Chart 25. The Number of Poor Persons-1959 to 1970 63Chart 26. The Poor by Family Status-1960 and 1970 65Chart 27. The Number of Poor Families by Work Status of

the Family Head-1960 and 1970 67Chart 28 Poor Female Heads as a Proportion of All Poor

Family Heads by Color-1960 and 1970 6()

Li ;

Who are the poor?

The following series of charts identifiesthe poor by a variety of demographic characteristics:age, sex, race, family status, metropolitan- -

nonmetropolitan areas, and geographic location.It will be observed at the outset that

the poor are primarily women, children, and theelderly. Other statistical breakdowns showthat most of the poor are white and live an


The last chart in this section indicatesthe incidence of poverty among various groupsof the poor. It shows that not all personsin our country have the same chance of being


blacks, female headed families, and the elderlyand unrelated individuals.*


live alone or with others to whom they arenot related.

Sok

V

Chart 1.The poor byage and sex1970

The poor totaled 25.9 ' million persons in 1970, and represented12.8 percent of the Nation's population.*The poverty population is composed primarily of children (less than16 years of age), women (age 16 to 64) -md the elderly (age 65and over). In 1970

nearly 4 out of every 10 poor persons were children,nearly 2 out of every 10 were elderly anJ1 out of 4 was a female, age 16 to 64.

TABLE 1.Total

Number (000)Total 25,886 '

Children, less dm 16 10,033Males, 16 to 64 4,355Females, 16 to 64 6,789Elderly, 65 and over 4,709

Percent100 0

38.816.826.218.2

'See footnote on page 70 .`Because. tt.-3 absolute numbers and percentages have been rounded, they maynot add to the totals in the charts or tables.

(1

4'3G

, %r4'. Lt


Blacks and persons of Spanish origin account for a disproportionateshare of all poor persons. While blacks represent slightly more than10 percent of all persons in,the Nation, they make up about 30 percentof the poverty population. Persons of Spanish origin account for about4 percent of all persons but nearly 9 percent of the poor. The vastmajority (97 percent) of poor persons of Spanish origin are white.

TABLE 2.Total


Whites 17,480 68.5Blacks 7,650 30.0Other nonwhites * 392 1.5Persons of Spanish of * (2,177) (8.5)' Other nonwhites refer to Indians, Japanese. Chinese and any other race except

white and blaCk. Persons of Spanish :gin are those who ale of Mexican.Chicano. Puerto Rican, Cuban. Central of South American, or other Spanishdescent. They may be of any race. but about 97 percent were white. Consequent-!) then addition to bites. blacks and other normhites who are poor will exceedthe total poor.

'".tt't , ,peet ft,

Chart 3.The white and blaf.!1poor by ageand sex1970




TABLE 3.White Black

Number (000) Percent Number (000) PercentTotal 17348 100.0 7,737 100.0

Children, less than 16 6,015 33.9 3,833 49.5Males, 16 to 64 3,104 17.5 1,163 15.0Females. 16 to 64 4,647 26.2 2,055 26.6Elderly, 65 and over 3,984 22.4 683 8.8

10

White poor

Black poor

Males,16 to 6417.5%(3.1 mil.)


Males,16 to 6415.0%(1.2 mil.)


Females,16 to 6426.6%(2.1 mil.)


;71 Females,16 to 6426.2%(4.6 mil.)


11



2 out of 10 poor persons were unrelated individuals and nearly 3out of 10 lived in a family headed by a woman.

only slightly more than 1 in 10 of the nonpoor were unrelated in-dividuals and members of female headed families.

TABLE 4Poor Nonpoor

Number (000) Percent Number (000) PercentTotal 25,886 100.0 176.968 100.0

Unrelated individuals 5,388 20.8 10333 5.8hi families 20,499 79.2 166,633 94.2

Male headed families 12,879 49.8 154A56 87.3Female headed families 7,620 29.4 12,177 6.9

12

00=Q. 0ao a,Zo.

Ec'g In.

U)0 73CU.... = v) U)

Q) > 13D = W -0 =5 E (13 E

..-. ccs...- 4.- E 42

(13 73 0tn=0 .7) "5 Z.)-0 12 oo

0 a, -0 zzat:

.c cI tn

P,/043''r:01 ,..4,44741,\;%44 .1

Q)a -0- '

(1)CI) --: CO =c 7) a) CrW E

3 F E Q.)

co c..1a) as Crl

6


Of the 5.4 million unrelated individuals who were poor in 1970,

1 out of every 2 was elderlyand 2 out of 5 were elderly women.

TABLE 5.Total

Number (000) PercentTotal 5.388 100.0

Children. less than 16 406 7.5Males, 16 to 64 856 15.9Females, 16 to 64 1.391 25.8Males, 65 and over 549 10.2Females, 65 and over 2,186 410.6

14


Females,65 and over40.6%(2.2 mil.)


Females,16 to 6425.8%(1.4 mil.)

Children,less than 16,7.5%(0.4 mil.)

Males,16 to 6415.9%(0.9 mil.)


The remaining 20.5 million poor persons lied in 5.2 million families.A significantly larger proportion of . poor families are headed by fe-males compared to nonpoor families. This is especially true amongpoor black families. In 1970

37 percent of all poor families and 37 percent of all poor blackfamilies were headed by females. Only 9 percent of all nonpoor fami-lies were headed by females.


TotalPoor blackfamily heads

Nonpoorfamily heads

Numb Number Number(000) Percent (000) Percent (000) Percent

Total 5,214 100.0 1.445 100.0 46,739 100.0Male 3,280 62.9 625 43.3 42,723 91.4Female 1,934 37.1 820 56.7 4,016 8.6

10

Nonpoor family headsFemale8.6%(4.0 mil.)

Poor family heads

iTemale37.10,0(1.9 mil.)

Male62 9%(3.3 mil.)


Male43.3%(0.6 mil.)


18


nearly 5 of every 10 poor persons lived in nonmetropolitan areasand

slightly more than 3 of every 10 lived in the central cities of metro-politan areas.

TABLE 7.Total

Number (000) Percent

Total 15,5')1 100.0

Metropolitan areas 13,378 52.4Central Cities 8,165 32.0Suburbs 5,213 20.4

Nonmetropolitan areas 12.142 7.6

I

Chart 8.The geographicLocation ofThe poor1970The poor are located throughoutlargest concentration can be found


TABLE 8.



Number (000)

Total

NortheastNorth CentralSouthWest

25,5224,2185,866

11,4803,955

20

PercentPercent poor

in region

100.0 12.6

16.5 8.723.0 10.345.0 18.515.5 11.3

West4.0 million persons were poor

accounting for15.5 percent of all ',he poorin the Nation and11.3 percent of all personsin this region North Central

Northeast4.2 million persons were pooraccounting for16.5 percent of all the poorin the Nation and



23.0 percent of all tne poorin the Nation and10.3 percent of all personsin this region

South11.5 million persons were poor

accounting for45.0 percent of all the poorin the Nation and18.5 percent of all personsin this region

Chart 9.The incidenceof povertyby selected gromps1970

Although the poor have been identified, it is also important to knowwhat groups in the Nation's population have the greatest incidence ofpoverty. Among some of the groups which compose the povertypopulation in 1970

39 percent of all persons in female headed families were poor34 percent of all unrelated individuals were poor34 percent of all blacks were poor25 percent of all elderly persons were poorand 24 percent of all persons of Spanish origin we poor.

TABLE 9.Total in


poor (000)Percent

poorPersons in female headed families 19.797 7,620 38,5Unrelated individuals 15,721 5,388 34.3Blacks 22,810 7,737 33.9Elderl} 19.254 4.709 24.5Persons of Spanish origin 8,956 2,177 24.3Children, less than 16 62,696 10,033 16.0All persons 202,854 25,886 12.8Women, 16 to 64 62,576 6,789 10.8Whites 177,626 17,748 10.0Persons in male headed families 167,335 12,879 7.7Men, 16 to 64 58,331 4,355 7.5

Perccnt poor rodo

Pr,rsons in ferhale 38.5%neadea families

1,17eLiteci .ndIviduals 34.3%

Blacks

Pcrsch5 ot Soamsil origin

Children, less than 16

"-,

24.5%

16.0%

Ai; rsons 12.8%

Women. 16 to 64 10.8%

Whof:s 10.0%

Persons in maleheaded families 7.7(Y0

Men, 16 to 64 7.5%


of the poor












these characteristics and those of the

nonpoor population.

0

e

Chart laThe averagefamily sizeof poor andnonpoor families1970

i'k) '

11 111:, fl 11;

1 , 2 "; .,1

11,"'"

, - L I

1 \BI I II)

;1)11h,

,iPoo, 1),..,11,,k ,,Pocl \.%,1., 401)),,,,1

1 C1.. :I) 11

I1),. 1-;- ,-,1 :!1,,,,

- 111 11, 9f, ) -21) r.,,-,-, S'2 h()::

S 2; , 1 44c ; 1 ()1 4() '19:. ti: 4 7 ,

z i, 3 0I's!, :1 ',-- 111,111 I , : k11111,, I '`1 2 i) 1 s 1.1

_;......,___

4.

IS

Chart 11.

Years of schoolcompleted forthe poor andnonpoor, age 22and over1970

The educational level of the adul, poor is low relative to the nonpoorpopulation. In 1970

1 of every 2 poor persons,. age 22 and over had completed 8 yearsor less of school compared to only 1 of every S among the nonpoor.


TABLE 11.

Poor NonpoorNumber Number

( 000 ) Percent ( 000) PercentTotal 13,273 100.0 105.610 100.0

No school 509 3.8 734 0.71 to 8 years 6,4W 48.2 21,252 20.19 to 11 years 2,492 18.8 17,185 16.312 years 2,504 18.9 39,651 37.5College, 1 year or more 1,367 10.3 26,788 25.4

C0c" Fo 4 0

8>8-, =0 c"a c qt

c.1 tr:5v..'

.

......co 41

,' if :;,:',;;,'"?.,:tri?"''',,z.,'upru

...,,,-*'4,7,-:7,4:1:rw"

Co

C

oC)

=4t51-':!

000-4..zoos,k1,4,1'04,'

Co

E

co Eed

"rs;-r--,w,g,te$Lysii$gr.,43.44ATV...,

S"..*Viii1P$s'77.1..1114

; 'P.O..' 'I,

Chart 12.The poor andnonpoor'sattachment tothe work force*1970Although a larger proportion of the nonpoor work compared to thepoor, the treater concentration among the poor of children, elderly,ill and disabled, and persons (14 to 64 dears of age) who are inschool accounts for much of the difference. Only a very small pro-portion of the poor who could be working are not working. In 1970

children, the elderly, ill and disabled, and those in school (ate14 to 64) accounted for 64 percent of the total poor but 40 percentof the nonpoor.

those poor persons who possibly could be working, but roc not( those age 14 to 64 who did not work, go to school, or were ill ordisabled) accounted for 12 percent of the poverty population, andthe vast majority were women with household responsibilities.

TABLE 12.Poor Non oor

Number(000) Percent

Number(000) Percent

Total 25,886 100.0 176,968 100.0

Children, less than 14 8,905 34.4 45,107 25.8Elderly, 65 and over 4,709 18.2 14,545 8.2Ill and disabled, 14 to 64 1,208 4.7 1.941 1.1

In school, 14 to 64 1,698 6.6 9,337 5.3Do not work, go to school,or were not ill or disabled,age 14 to 64 3,177 12.3 19,057 10.8

Males 356 1.4 1.076 0.6Females 2,821 10.9 17,980 '0.2

Worked, age 14 to 64 * 6,190 23.9 86,378 48.8

Includes those in the Armed Iorces living off post of with their families on post.

;t

Poor persons N)npoor persons

/ ,C.,'/// 4,11-,treiV10,1:,-,/ t 1, ;0 , :.S. 4 'aleMillin a wisrimmt

Ed'r', 65 and over 13 2%

1;1 d;sabled, 14 to 64 4.7%

in -.,coo l 14 to 64 66%

Do not ..dork goto school. orNere rot .11 ord,sanleci. age14 to .C;i:

Me 1.4';

Female 10.9°,

Viwkcd, 14 to (,-1 239%


Of the poor,. age 14 and over who worked, the majority were employedin jobs providing less than year round, full-time employment. In 1970

3 out of 4 poor people who worked, did so in either part-time jobsor full-time jobs for less than a full year.


TABLE 13Poor Nonpoor


Total worked * 6,716 100.0 89,231 100.0Full-time, year round 1,624 24.2 50,373 56.5Full-time, part year 2,333 34.7 20,243 22.7Part-time 2.759 41.1 18.614 20.9* Excludes those in the Armed Forces living off post or with their families on post.

Working poor

Part-time

Working nonpoor

Part-time

FuiL -timeyear round

34.7%

Full-timepart year

part year

Full-timeyear round




TABLE 14Poor(000) Percent.

Nonpoor000 Percent


wage and salary 1,437 21.3 48,411 54.3Semi-skilled wage and salary 871 13.0 14,278 16.0Unskilled wage and salary 599 8.9 4,629 5.4Farm wage and salary 571 8.5 1292 1.4S. r'. ice wage and salary 1,701 25.3 12,171 13.6Self-employed (farm and other) 1.091 16.2 6.641 7.4Unpaid family workers 444 6.6 1,612 1.8

Excludes those in the Armed Forces living off post or with their families on post

1.(e. andsalary, ,dorkers

iito-cot lata nd sk, lied

Se i lied

Unskilled

Farm

Service

Poor .^,orkers N on poor ,%rorkers

\ \ i

\k \ \ : '7- '4 64% r-,,,. ,.. .;._-, ,. kk

,..., u.....: , .0_-..,,A --0-weetwivarair I INIE 1.4 , 0Sr.if-emIA.',red '.t.ork(1,F, 16.2°,0 \ .

\ ,. -..

., - -.' -.. .-,,..., . - -... i: .-.

16.0%



only 50 percent of the poor families' reported aggregate income wasderived from earnings, compared to 90 percent for the nonpoor.



Dollars Dollars(millions) Percent (millions) Percent


Social security, govern-ment railroad retirement 2,074 19.5 14,345 2.7Public assistance 2,010 18.° 1,594 0.3All other income 1,064 10.0 37,722 7.1

36




Publicassistance

..4- tr,litif#1*."


All otherincome otherthan earnings

Earnings



Not all poor families are poor to the same degree. Some families wouldrequire only a small increase in income to move out of poverty, butothers would require substantial amounts. In 1970

one quarter of all poor families would have needed from only SIto $499 to escape poverty, but


TABLE 16.

um icr(000)

Poor

PercentTota J,.., 11.0

SI to 499 deficit 1,298 24.9S500 to 999 deficit 1,111 21.3$1.000 to 1.999 deficit 1,434 27.5$2.000 and over 1,371 26.3

Income deficits represent the d .iences between t 1.-177 incomes of familieswho ate poor and their tespective poverty lines.

$1,000 to 1 999 deficit



gro, which are frequently mentioned when

the topic of poverty arises. These groups




reasons.

The elderly poor are isolated from the









confront the head of their family.






their families.





Social isolation among the elderly poor (65 years and over) is a

major problem because so many of them are individuals, who livealone or with nonrelatives. In 1970

nearly 6 of every 10 elderly poor persons were unrelated individ-ua. . Only 2 of every 10 elderly nonpoor persons were unrelatedindividuals.



Total 4,709 100.0 14,545 100.GFamiiy heads 1,166 24.8 6,009 41.3Spouses and other

family members 809 17.2 5,462 37,6Unrelated individuals 2,735 58.1 3.073 21.1

42

ElderlyPoor

I17.2% Spouses other

(0.8 mil,) family members

Family heads

Unrelatedindividuals

ElderlyNonpoor

Family heads

37.6% Spouses ot:ter(5.5 mil.) family menihers

,-,---,-....-.-





the remainder were female family heads. unrelated individuals, andother family members (mainly youths who are neither family heads liorwives).


Number(000) Percent

Number(000) Percent

Total 6,119 100.0 85,285 100.0Male family heads 1,789 29.2 35,636 41.8Female family heads 811 13.3 2,618 3.1Wives 838 13.7 21,335 25.0Other family members 1,404 22.9 19,012 22.3Unrelated individuals 1,275 20.8 6,686 7.8s Excludes those in the Armed Forces living off post or with their families on post.

44


heads13.3%(0.8 mil.)

Unrelatedindividuals20.8%(1.3 mil.)

Male familyheads29.2%(1.8 mil.)

Other familymembers %t

22.9%(1.4 mil.)

Working nonpoorage 14 to 64

Female family headsUnrel. indivs, 3.1%, (2.6 mil.)7.8%(6.7 mil.)

Other familymerrters22.3%(19.0 mii.)

Wives25.0%(21.3 mil.)


MalefamilyheadsAl .V'0(35.6 mil.)

Chart 19.Poor andnonpoorchildren,less than 16,by sex and colorof family head1970

The vast majority of nonpoor children are members of white maleheaded families, but this is not the case for poor children. In 1970




Number(000) Percent

Number(000) Percent

Total 10,033 100.0 52,663 100.0In male headed families 5,187 51.7 49,118 93.3




4h

Poor Children

in white femaleheaded families20.9%(2 1 mil.)

in black and othernonwhite femaleheaded families23.3%(2 3 mil.)

Nonpoor Children


in white maleheaded families36.1%(3.6 m II.)


in white femaleheaded families4.7% (2.5 mil.)

in black and other nonwhitefemale headed families2.0% (1.1 mil.)



,

r

4K




in contrast, only about 8 percent of all persons in nonpoor femaleheaded fami.ies were children less than 6, and only 16 percent werechildren 6 to 13 years of age.

Table 20.

Poor Nonpoor


Total 7,620 100.0 12,177 100.0Children, less than 6 1,653 21.7 918 7.5Children, age 6 to 13 2,287 30.0 2,001 16.4Persons, age 14 to 21 1,238 16.2 2,479 20APersons, age 22 and over 508 6.7 2,763 22.7Female family heads 1,934 25.4 4,016 33.0



Persons. age22 and over6.7%(0.5 mul.)

Persons. age14 to 2116.2%

Nonpoor persons Mfemale headed famines


Persons, age22 and over22.70/0

Cnildrenless than 621.7%(1.7 mil.)

Children.age 6 to 1330.0%

Children less than 67.5% (0.9 mil.)

Children,age 6 tc 1316.4%

Persons,age 14 to 2120.4









increase.





entered poverty in 1970, it is possible



net increase.






Table 21.1970 1969 Change(000) (000) (000)

Tot al 25,886 24,656 1,230Persons in families 20,499 19,429 1,070Unrelated individuals 5,388 5,226 162

52



Peislns in families,87.0%

1969 1970




Table 22.1970(000)

1969(000)

Change(000)

Total 20,499 19,429 1,070Persons in familieswhere head is:

Male, white 9,593 9,106 487Female, white 3371 3,592 179

Male, black and othernonwhite

3,286 3,331 45


3.849 3,400 449

:',4


10.0

..V."

4.0

2.0

1.0

Color andsex of

family heap,

'69

Female,white

Male. blackand othernonwhite

Female, blackand othernonwhite

Chart 23.The numberof poor personsliving infamilies by relationshipto family head1969 and 1970

One of the most unfortunate aspects of poverty is the large number ofchildren it affects. This is particularly evident when poverty increases.Between 1969 and 1970

poor children, less than 14, accounted for about 550.000 of the1.1 million increase m poor persons living in familiesabout 5 ofevery 10.

TABLE 23.1970

(000)1969(000)

Change(000)

Total 20.499 19,429 1,070Persons in families:

Family heads, 14 to 64 4,048 3,709 339Family heads. 65 and over 1,166 1,239 -73Children, under 14 8.540 7,993 547Other family members,


65 and over 809 888 -79

56

Whons ofpoorpersons

90

80

or,.L1

50

40

30

2.0

1.0

Legend

'69

'70

,--


14 to 64 65 and 14 members. members,over 14 to 64 65 and over

I

5s


As was shown earlier, the poor are concentrated in central cities andnonmetropolitan areas. However, between 1969 and 1970

about 53 percent of the total increase in the number of poorpersons occurred in the suburbs of our metropolitan areas.

TABLE 24.1970

(000)1969

(000)Change(000)

Total 25.52? 24.289 1.231Metropolitan areas 13,378 12.320 1,058

Central cities 8,165 7,760 405Suburbs 5,213 4,560 653


r e er,,,,Ae.e. A lue., re, rr4 AAA ter,

9

,Aeeere.,99,etr., rira

,op"Wdr."rfr"--"

" 4 e )", ,;.%" ",

I II I I II I

0-; c0 kt> tr)orr-I


The past decade





12.6 percent.












for this change.


these changes.

4

I.



TABLE 25.Number (000) Percent of total population

1970 25,522r 12.611969 24,289r 12.2r1968 25,389r 12.8r1967 27,769r 14.2r1966 28,510r 14.711966 30,424 15.71965 33,185 17.31964 36,055 19.01963 36,436 19.51962 3.8,625 21.01961 39,628 21.91960 39,851 22.21959 39,490 22.4

* Excludes unrelated individuals under 14 years of age.r Based on improved methodology for processing income data. See footnote 2

on page "0 .

62

Millions ofDoor persons

40.0 Number

30.0

20.0

10.0


40.0%

r

'59 '60 '61 '62 '63 '64 '65 '66 '67 '68 '69 '70

30.0%

20.0%

10.0%



poor persons in male headed families represented 5 out of every10 poor persons, compared to 7 out of 10 in 1960.

poor persons in female headed families and unrelated individualsrepresented 5 of eery 10 poor persons. but in 1960 they accountedfor only 3 of every 10.

TABLE 26.1970 19 60

Number(000) Percent

Number(000) Percent

Total 25,522 100.0 39.851 100.0Persons in male

headed families 12.879 50.5 27,678 69.5Persons in female

headed families 7,620 29.9 7,247 18.2Unrelated individuals,

age 14 and over 5,023 19.7 4,926 12.4

64

Poor persons1970

Unrel Individuals.age 14 andover19.7%(5.0 mil.)

Persons infemale headedfamilies29.9%(7.6 mil.)

Poor persons1960

Unrel. Individuals,age 14 andover12.4%(4.9 mil.)


11



Chart 27.The numberof poor familiesby work statusof the familyhead1960 to 1970



who worked.

TABLE 27.1970

(000)1960

(000)Change(000)

Total 5.158 8.097 2,939Worked 2,865 5,719 2,854

Male 2,026 4,828 2,802Female 838 891 53

Did not work 2,293 2,378 85

* Excludes those family heads in the Armed Forces who live off post or with theirfamilies on post.

.

60


5.0

4.0

3.0

2.0

1.0

'70

'60

Family heads who worked Family headswMale Female who did not

work

1,

68


Among poor families, therefore, (both white and the black other non-whites), the female headed family has become more common. Between1960 and 1970

the proportion of all poor white families headed by females rosefrom 21 to 30 percent and


TABLE 28.1970 1960

Allfamilyheads

Femalefamilyheads

Percentfemale

Allfamilyheads

Femalefamilyheads

PercentFemale

(000) (000) (000) (00D)Total 5,214 1,934 37.1 8,243 1,955 23.7


nonwhites 1,513 837 55.3 2,128 703 33.0


50.0

40.0

30.0

20.0

10.0

'60

70 `-_-

White. families

Black and othernonwhite families

70

1

FOOTNOTES

-., ,, .,

'Throughout the chartbook and statistical tables two different -,of the number of poor persons in 1970 will be observed-25.9 mil-lion and 25.5 million. The differenceabout 400.000 individuals--represents children who are under 14 years of age and are unrelatedindividuals. These persons are included in the special tabulation thatthe Bureau of the Census provides the Office of Economic Oppor-tunity (the former total) but excluded in the tabulations which theCensus Bureau publishes (the latter total). Most of the charts andtables are based on the 0E0 special tabulations because detailedpoverty statistics from the Census Bureau were not available at thetime of this writing.

The historical series of the number of poor persons. as shown inChart 25 and Table 25, reflects revisions made over recent years inthe definition of poverty as well as improvements in the statisticalprocessing of income statistics. With regard to the former, two basicchanges were made; first, all poverty lines from the base year 1963were adjusted on the basis of the Consumer Price Index; and second.poverty lines for farm families and individuals were raised f -:,:n 70 to85 percent of corresponding nonfarm poverty lines. The ,. ,mbinedimpact of these two revisions resulted in a net increase of 360,000poor families and 1.6 million poor persons in 1967. The present his-torical data reflects these changes. Regarding improvements in theprocessing of income statistics, the Bureau of the Census in 1966introduced improved editing and allocation procedures. The mainfeature involved a more refined method for imputing n,:ssing incomeinformation. Because of coding errors in the processing of 1967 incomestatistics it was not possible to apply the above mentioned improve-ments to that year's data. Poverty statistics for that year. therefore,are not strictly comparable for those shown for 1966 and subsequentyears. Despite these revisions and modifications it is still felt that thechanges in the poverty population di:-cussed in Section 5 are still gen-erally valid. For a more detailed explanation of these revisions andimprovements. see "24 Million Americans.Poverty in the UnitedStates: 1969 " Current Population Reports, Series P-60, No. 76,Bureau of the Census. U.S. Department of Commerce.

*, s(,(1ti ItNN4 \I Plf f f IN,. 01-I If f Inn 0 - 454-76o

Documents

DOCUMENT RESUME RC 006 794 Ryscavage, Paul M. TITLE The … · 2014-01-02 · DOCUMENT RESUME. ED 072 902. RC 006 794. AUTHOR Ryscavage, Paul M. TITLE The Poor in 1970: A Chartbook