NATIONAL POVERTY FACTS:

Homelessness

• According to the National Alliance to End Homelessness, in 2018, 552,830 people in the United States were homeless and 36,361 of the group were children. 88,640 individuals or 16% of the homeless population are chronically homeless, which means they often have a disability and have experienced homelessness for a year or longer.  Source: National Alliance to End Homelessness

Food Insecurity

• An estimated 11.1% of U.S. households were food insecure at least some time during the year in 2018, meaning they lacked access to enough food for an active, healthy life for all household members.  Source: Household Food Security in the United States in 2018, ERR-270, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service

Children

• In 2018, 16.2% of all children (11.9 million) lived in poverty. That means nearly 1 in 6 children live in poverty. People under the age of 18 represented 22.6% of the total population in 2018 and 31.1% of the people in poverty.  Source: The U.S. Census Bureau: Income and Poverty in the United States 2018; U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, 2018-2019 Annual Social and Economic Supplements

Seniors

• Though the official census data gives seniors a 2018 poverty rate of only 9.23%, the Supplemental Poverty Measure, which accounts for expenses such as the rising costs of health care, raises the senior poverty rate to 13.6%.  Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, 2019 Annual Social and Economic Supplement