Multnomah County

POVERTY BY AGE

While they say little about economic ups and downs in the decade between Censuses, income and poverty data provide us with economic "snapshots" of an area at the time of enumeration that can in turn be compared with economic data gathered from earlier Censuses. Poverty status, as measured in this chart, is determined by Poverty Thresholds, which take into account a number of factors, including income and family size and structure. For example, the 2000 Poverty Threshold for a family of four in the continental United States with two related children was 17,463. However, Poverty Thresholds are misleading because they do not provide an accurate picture of what a “poor” family’s life is like. According to the National Center for Children in poverty, most families of four would have to make twice their assigned Poverty Threshold in order to provide their children with basic necessities, such as housing, food, and health care.

Poverty by Age, 1990 and 2000
1990 2000
Number Percent Number Percent
Total Population* 571,049 100.00% 645,584 100.00%
In Poverty 74,885 13.11% 81,711 12.66%
Not in Poverty 496,164 86.89% 563,873 87.34%
11 Years and Under 92,881 16.26% 97,495 15.10%
In Poverty 16,202 2.84% 16,494 2.55%
Not in Poverty 76,679 13.43% 81,001 12.55%
12 to 17 Years 38,812 6.80% 45,371 7.03%
In Poverty 5,876 1.03% 6,627 1.03%
Not in Poverty 32,936 5.77% 38,744 6.00%
18 to 64 Years 364,062 63.75% 431,924 66.90%
In Poverty 44,545 7.80% 51,655 8.00%
Not in Poverty 319,517 55.95% 380,269 58.90%
65 Years and Above 75,294 13.19% 70,794 10.97%
In Poverty 8,262 1.45% 6,935 1.07%
Not in Poverty 67,032 11.74% 63,859 9.89%

* The total population is the population for which poverty status is determined. Therefore, the total in this table should not be expected to match the total population in the population growth topic.

Source: Census 2000 analyzed by the Social Science Data Analysis Network (SSDAN).

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