[ Main Page of Report | Contents of Report ]
| Sponsor: | U.S. Department of Commerce/U.S. Census Bureau |
| Description: | The U.S. Census Bureau, with support from other federal agencies, created
the Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates (SAIPE) program to provide more
current estimates of selected income and poverty statistics than the most
recent decennial census. Estimates are created for states, counties, and
school districts. The main objective of this program is to provide updated
estimates of income and poverty statistics for the administration of federal
programs and the allocation of federal funds to local jurisdictions.
The estimates are not direct counts from enumerations or administrative records, nor direct estimates from sample surveys. Data from those sources are not adequate to provide intercensal estimates for all counties. Instead, the relationship between income or poverty and tax and program data for the states and a subset of counties are modeled using estimates of income or poverty from the Annual Social and Economic Supplement (ASEC) to the Current Population Survey (CPS). The modeled relationships are then used to develop estimates for all states and counties. For school districts, the model-based county estimates and the decennial census distribution of the population in poverty of each county across its constituent school districts are used to create the estimates. |
| Relevant Policy Issues: | Income status. |
| Data Type(s): | Statistical database |
| Unit of Analysis: | Estimates developed for the SAIPE program are not at the individual level, therefore counts of the AI/AN/NA population in the data set are not available. The estimates, however, are available by county and school district (geographical units that may be of interest). Researchers could use other data sources to identify geographic areas with large concentrations of AI/AN/NA and then use SAIPE data to do analyses of these areas. |
| Identification of AI/AN/NA: | AI/AN/NA individuals are not identified in the data set. |
| Geographic Scope: | The geographic scope of the study is national. Geographic analysis is possible by state, county, and school district. |
| Date or Frequency: | State and county data are available for 1989, 1993, and 1995 – 2003.
School district data are available for 1995, 1997, and 1999 2003. |
| Data Collection Methodology: | No data are collected. Models are developed on a periodic basis and then used to generate estimates. |
| Authorization: | The SAIPE program was developed when Congress called for authorization legislation requiring the Secretary of Commerce to develop the methodology to produce “intercensal data relating to the incidence of poverty for each state, county, and local jurisdiction.” The legislation further called for estimates of the number of children impovered age 5 to 17, for local education agencies (school districts) and of the number of impovered people age 65 and over for states and counties. In September 1994, the Congress passed the Improving America’s Schools Act and signed it into law (PL 103-382). It reauthorized and amended the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Authorization for SAIPE falls under this legislation. The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 further amended the ESEA and required annual production of estimates for school districts. |
| Strengths: | The SAIPE program data provides estimates of income and poverty statistics based on more current data than other sources of information. |
| Limitations: | The type of information available from SAIPE is not diverse; it concerns only the number in poverty, poverty rates, and median household income information. SAIPE estimates are based on statistical models and are subject to modeling error. |
| Other: | The Small Area Health Insurance Estimates (SAHIE) program builds on the work of the SAIPE program. SAHIE was created to develop model-based estimates of health insurance coverage by age for counties and states. The SAHIE program has developed experimental estimates for counties and states for 2000 for the total population with and without health insurance coverage; children under age 18 with and without health insurance coverage; and measures of uncertainty of the estimates. This type of county-level data on health insurance coverage are not available elsewhere because neither the decennial census nor the American Community Survey contain questions on this topic. More information about the SAHIE program can be found at: http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/sahie/index.html |
| Access Requirements and Use Restrictions: | These estimates are available to the public at no cost. |
| Contact Information: | Mail address: U.S. Census Bureau 4700 Silver Hill Road Washington DC 20233-0001
Telephone:
Location of the actual data: |
| Reports of Interest: | Detailed information on SAIPE estimates and limitations concerning the
use of these data are provided in three recent publications:
1. Evaluation of School District Poverty Estimates: Predictive Models using IRS Income Tax Data. Jerry J. Maples and William R. Bell, Bureau of the Census, Washington DC 20233. (http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/saipe/asapaper/asa05finalmaples.pdf) 2. Using Medicaid Participant Data in the Estimation of County Poverty Levels. David S. Powers, U.S. Census Bureau, Small Area Estimates Branch, Housing and Household Economic Statistics Division, Room 1451, Building 3. (http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/saipe/asapaper/asa2005dpowers.pdf) 3. Estimating School District Poverty with Free and Reduced Lunch Data. Craig Cruse and David Powers, U.S. Census Bureau, Small Area Estimates Branch, Room 1451-3. http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/saipe/publications.html. |
Main Page of Report | Contents of Report
Home Pages:
Human Services Policy
(HSP)
Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation
(ASPE)
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
(HHS)