POPULATION CHARACTERISTICS

17

Poverty Status

In 2000, 11.9 million women and 7.6 million men aged 18 and older were living with incomes below the Federal poverty level.(1) Women aged 18-24 were most likely to be poor, with a poverty rate of 17.2 percent. The percentage of females under the Federal poverty level continually decreased between the ages of 25 and 64, reaching a low of 8.4 percent for women aged 45-64. The poverty rate for women 65-74 was 10 percent and 14 percent among women aged 75 and older. This pattern of younger and older women with the higher poverty rates was consistent across racial and ethnic groups.

Among adult women, Black and Hispanic women had the highest percentage living below the poverty level (21.4 and 20.1 percent, respectively). This is more than twice the proportion of White (9.6 percent) and Asian/Pacific Islander women (10.1 percent) living in poverty.

1 - The Census Bureau uses a set of money income thresholds that vary by family size and composition to determine who is poor. If a family's total income is less than that family's threshold, then that family and every individual in it is considered to be poor.

Women living below the poverty level, by age, 2000: 18-24 years: 17.2%; 25-34 years: 13.0%; 35-44 years: 9.5%; 45-64 years: 8.4%; 65-74 years: 10.5%; 75 years and over: 14.0%.
Women living below the poverty level, 2000: All races: 11.3%; White, 9.6%; black: 21.4%; Hispanic: 20.1%; Asian, Pacific Islander: 10.1%.

 

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