9781422275474

POVERTY Poverty is a state of deprivation, lacking the usual or socially acceptable amount of money or material possessions. The official poverty rate is 12.3 percent, based on the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2017 estimates. According to the Census Bureau, in 2016, 18.5 million people lived in deep poverty. Those in deep poverty represented 5.8 percent of the total population and 45.6 percent of those in poverty. The child poverty rate is 17.5 percent therefore about one in five children is in poverty status. • • •

TOP 12 CAUSES OF GLOBAL POVERTY 1. Inadequate food or water 2. Unemployment 3. Conflict 4. Inequality 5. Lack of education 6. Climate change

7. Lack of infrastructure 8. Inefficient government 9. Lack of resources 10. Natural disaster 11. Disease and disability 12. Overpopulation

• The poverty rate for blacks and Hispanics is more than double that of non-Hispanic whites. • Of those with any disability and between ages 21 and 64, 41 percent are employed, compared with 79 percent of those with no disability. Source: U.S. Census Bureau. DID YOU KNOW? • Of all adults over 25 years old without a high school diploma, 24.5 percent are in poverty. • People with disabilities are more likely to live in poverty than those without disabilities. • Families headed by a single female are more likely to be in poverty than married-couple families.

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