Census shows that half of all female-headed households with children under 5 live in poverty
Contact Katherine J. Curtis, kcurtis@ssc.wisc.edu 608-263-6292
Madison, Wis.–Poverty in Wisconsin is on the rise. Recently released data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS) show that 12 percent of Wisconsin residents lived in poverty during 2009, up from slightly over ten percent reported in 2008. Poverty has steadily increased in the state since 2000, when approximately 8.7 percent of the total population was in poverty.
“Historically, Wisconsin has reported lower poverty rates than the national average,” says Katherine J. Curtis, demographic specialist with UW-Extension and assistant professor of community and environmental sociology at the UW-Madison. “While this is still true, the state’s advantage has narrowed from almost four percentage points in 2000 to less than two percentage points in 2009.”
Among family households in Wisconsin, economic vulnerability is highest for families with children under the age of 18 headed by single females. Approximately 39 percent of these households were living in poverty. Even more dramatic, more than half of all female-headed households with children under five years old only were in poverty. By comparison, just over five percent of married-couple households with children under 18 and under five lived in poverty in 2009.
Households headed by single females face particular obstacles to earning a living wage. Single-earner households make less than dual-earner households. And research has shown that single-mother households confront additional economic challenges due to gender inequality in wages and conflicts between employment and child care.
In contrast to family households with children, poverty among the population age 65 and older declined during the last year. Reported poverty for older households is down from 8.4 percent in 2008 to 7.7 percent 2009.
“The consequences of poverty are both immediate and long-term and affect individuals as well as entire communities,” says Curtis. Inadequate food, clothing and housing have immediate impacts which lead to longer-term effects.
“For individuals, long-term consequences include poor health and cognitive skills that can compound an individual’s chance of living in poverty,” says Curtis. “For communities, the long-term impacts of poverty include economic underdevelopment and greater public health costs–including expenses associated with poor population health and crime.”
Previous research on Wisconsin poverty shows that there is a wide range in the degree and persistence of poverty among communities. The state’s racial minorities are disproportionately affected by poverty. Research reports on the historical, racial and geographical aspects of poverty in Wisconsin are available online through the Applied Population Laboratory at http://www.apl.wisc.edu/index.html. Look for updates on these trends as ACS data for all counties in Wisconsin become available in the coming months.
Estimates on poverty and employment are also available through the U.S. Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey (CPS). The CPS estimates are based on monthly surveys of U.S. households with a focus on labor force characteristics. In contrast, the ACS estimates are based on surveys of households that cover social, economic, and demographic characteristics that are collected continuously and reported on an annual basis for larger areas and on a 3- and 5-year schedule for smaller areas. ACS and CPS data are publicly available on-line at http://www.census.gov/acs/www/ (ACS) and http://www.census.gov/cps/ (CPS).
###