Reeves 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* 15,219 100.00% 12,008 100.00%
In Poverty 4,384 28.81% 3,469 28.89%
Not in Poverty 10,835 71.19% 8,539 71.11%
11 Years and Under 3,452 22.68% 2,432 20.25%
In Poverty 1,200 7.88% 963 8.02%
Not in Poverty 2,252 14.80% 1,469 12.23%
12 to 17 Years 1,831 12.03% 1,466 12.21%
In Poverty 608 4.00% 457 3.81%
Not in Poverty 1,223 8.04% 1,009 8.40%
18 to 64 Years 8,354 54.89% 6,608 55.03%
In Poverty 2,056 13.51% 1,725 14.37%
Not in Poverty 6,298 41.38% 4,883 40.66%
65 Years and Above 1,582 10.39% 1,502 12.51%
In Poverty 520 3.42% 324 2.70%
Not in Poverty 1,062 6.98% 1,178 9.81%

* 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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