| Demographic Group: | All resident persons. |
| Numerator: | Respondents living at or below poverty level (as established by the Social Security Administration) during a calendar year. |
| Denominator: | Respondents for the same calendar year. |
| Measures of Frequency: | Annual prevalence with 95% confidence interval. |
| Time Period of Case Definition: | Calendar year. |
| Background: | In 2002, a total of 12.1% (34.6 million) of U.S. residents were living at or below poverty level. Substantial differences in poverty exist by race, ethnicity, education, and region of the United States. |
| Significance: | Socioeconomic conditions (e.g., poverty, low level of education, and lack of health insurance coverage) are associated with poor health status and chronic disease, including cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, and chronic lung disease. Income provides an assessment of the financial resources available to individual persons or families for basic necessities (e.g., food, clothing, and health care) to maintain or improve their well-being. |
| Limitations of Indicator: | Level of income might not reflect all the resources available to individual persons and families for health and health care. Persons who are living at or below the poverty rate might receive health-care services through Medicaid, Medicare, accumulated assets, or other means. |
| Data Resources: | Current Population Survey.
http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/DatasetMainPageServlet?_program=ACS&_submenuId=people_7&_lang=en&_ts= |
| Limitations of Data Resources: | As with all self-reported sample surveys, Current Population Survey data might be subject to systematic error resulting from noncoverage (e.g., residence in a noneligible household), nonresponse (e.g., refusal to participate in the survey or to answer specific questions), or measurement (e.g., social desirability or recall bias). |
| Healthy People 2010 Objectives: | No objective. |
