Ever wondered how the poverty rate has changed over the years? And how that breaks down by various demographic categories? You could spend several hours poring through the annual reports by the Census Bureau and find all the data.
Here’s an easier (and more interesting) way. Our friends at Demos, an organization that “combines research, policy development and advocacy to influence public debate and catalyze change,” have created a series of interactive graphs that can answer all your questions.
Tracking American Poverty & Policy contains the data on the U.S. poverty rate annually from 1967 to 2010, including the rate of those in “deep” poverty and those near poverty when you zoom in on the graph. Then follows a set of graphs for the same time period by race, gender, age, educational level, and family; with the same three breakdowns.
It’s a useful resource for historical data on poverty, and it’s fun to play with the graphs to find the data.
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