Kent 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* 16,928 100.00% 18,037 100.00%
In Poverty 1,943 11.48% 2,342 12.98%
Not in Poverty 14,985 88.52% 15,695 87.02%
11 Years and Under 2,576 15.22% 2,513 13.93%
In Poverty 386 2.28% 458 2.54%
Not in Poverty 2,190 12.94% 2,055 11.39%
12 to 17 Years 1,053 6.22% 1,388 7.70%
In Poverty 143 0.84% 232 1.29%
Not in Poverty 910 5.38% 1,156 6.41%
18 to 64 Years 10,285 60.76% 10,692 59.28%
In Poverty 995 5.88% 1,360 7.54%
Not in Poverty 9,290 54.88% 9,332 51.74%
65 Years and Above 3,014 17.80% 3,444 19.09%
In Poverty 419 2.48% 292 1.62%
Not in Poverty 2,595 15.33% 3,152 17.48%

* 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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