U.S. Department of Justice, Office Of Justice Programs, Innovation - Partnerships - Safer Neighborhoods
Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), Serving Children, Families, and Communities
OJJDP Statistical Briefing Book logo jump over products navigation bar
OJJDP Statistical Briefing Book logoAbout SSBFrequently Asked QuestionsPublicationsData Analysis ToolsNational Data SetsOther ResourcesAsk a Question

Juvenile Population Characteristics
Overview
Related FAQs
Related Publications
Related Links
Data Analysis Tools
Juveniles as Victims
Juveniles as Offenders
Juvenile Justice System Structure & Process
Law Enforcement & Juvenile Crime
Juveniles in Court
Juveniles on Probation
Juveniles in Corrections
Juvenile Reentry & Aftercare
Special Topics
Data Snapshot
Statistical Briefing Book Home

OJJDP logo

Printer-priendlyPrinter-friendly
Juvenile Population Characteristics
Poverty
Q: How has the proportion of juveniles living in poverty changed since the 1970's?
A: After reaching a historic low in 2019, the proportion of children living below the poverty level increased to 16.1% in 2020.

[ Text only ]  [ CSV file ]

  • In 2020, 11.4% of all persons lived at or below the poverty threshold. This proportion was far greater for persons under age 18 (16.1%) than for those ages 18-64 (10.4%) and those above age 64 (9.0%).
  • Between 2011 and 2020, the child poverty rate declined 5.8 percentage points while the rate for persons ages 18 to 64 fell 3.3 percentage points.
  • The increase in the child poverty rate in the last year marks the first increase since the 2009-2010 period.
Internet citation: OJJDP Statistical Briefing Book. Online. Available: https://www.ojjdp.gov/ojstatbb/population/qa01401.asp?qaDate=2020. Released on October 13, 2021.

Data Source: Data through 2018 adapted from U.S. Bureau of the Census. Current Population Survey - Historical Poverty Tables. Table 3: "Poverty Status of People, by Age, Race, and Hispanic Origin: 1959 to 2018." Web-based data files available at: [http://www.census.gov/topics/income-poverty/poverty/data/tables.html].
Data for 2019 and 2020 adapted from the U.S. Census Bureau, Microdata Access, CPS Annual Social and Economic (March) Supplement 202003/202103. Available from https://data.census.gov/mdat/#/. Accessed on September 2021.

 

USA.gov | Privacy | Policies & Disclaimers | FOIA | Site Map | Ask a Question | OJJDP Home
A component of the Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice