Maricopa 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* 2,087,745 100.00% 3,027,299 100.00%
In Poverty 257,359 12.33% 355,668 11.75%
Not in Poverty 1,830,386 87.67% 2,671,631 88.25%
11 Years and Under 381,767 18.29% 561,555 18.55%
In Poverty 70,928 3.40% 94,704 3.13%
Not in Poverty 310,839 14.89% 466,851 15.42%
12 to 17 Years 163,184 7.82% 248,232 8.20%
In Poverty 23,521 1.13% 34,007 1.12%
Not in Poverty 139,663 6.69% 214,225 7.08%
18 to 64 Years 1,286,386 61.62% 1,866,392 61.65%
In Poverty 140,428 6.73% 201,105 6.64%
Not in Poverty 1,145,958 54.89% 1,665,287 55.01%
65 Years and Above 256,408 12.28% 351,120 11.60%
In Poverty 22,482 1.08% 25,852 0.85%
Not in Poverty 233,926 11.20% 325,268 10.74%

* 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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