Cumberland 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* 252,955 100.00% 284,529 100.00%
In Poverty 36,495 14.43% 36,391 12.79%
Not in Poverty 216,460 85.57% 248,138 87.21%
11 Years and Under 53,780 21.26% 57,780 20.31%
In Poverty 11,118 4.40% 10,294 3.62%
Not in Poverty 42,662 16.87% 47,486 16.69%
12 to 17 Years 21,937 8.67% 25,172 8.85%
In Poverty 4,299 1.70% 3,962 1.39%
Not in Poverty 17,638 6.97% 21,210 7.45%
18 to 64 Years 161,156 63.71% 179,111 62.95%
In Poverty 17,906 7.08% 19,052 6.70%
Not in Poverty 143,250 56.63% 160,059 56.25%
65 Years and Above 16,082 6.36% 22,466 7.90%
In Poverty 3,172 1.25% 3,083 1.08%
Not in Poverty 12,910 5.10% 19,383 6.81%

* 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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