Title: U.S. Poverty Statistics - Federal Safety Net
Headings: Federal Safety Net
Federal Safety Net
U.S. Poverty Statistics
Change in Poverty Rate From The Prior Year
U.S. Poverty Statistics – Age of the Population
U.S. Poverty Statistics - Race
U.S. Poverty Statistics – Marital Status
U.S. Poverty Statistics – Working Age Adults
U.S. Poverty Statistics – Disability
U.S. Poverty Statistics – Residence
U.S. Poverty Statistics – Nativity and Citizenship
U.S. Poverty Statistics – Educational Attainment
Poverty Dynamics
Only 2% of the population is in poverty with three attributes

Content: People working full time jobs who are in poverty have low paying jobs and a family size that puts them and their spouse and children in a poverty status. For example a spouse working a $10.00 an hour full time job would earn approximately $20,800 in a typical work year which is below the poverty threshold for a family of four of $25,094. Individuals working part time or seasonal jobs also often don’t make enough to raise their income above the poverty threshold. Both of these categories of poverty are most likely not caused by a lack of available jobs (especially in times of low unemployment such as 2017) but a problem of education, job training and job advancement. ​
Reason for not working
There are 17.1 million working age adults in a poverty status in 2017 that spent at least part of the year out of the work force. The chart to the left shows their reason for not working [iv]. ​1. School. Students are generally young and just getting started in life. It makes sense they would not have annual income greater than the poverty threshold and be labeled as being in poverty.