University of Wisconsin - Madison Institute for Research on Poverty

This paper calls attention to processes of entry into and exit from poverty, and to the resulting rates of replacement or turnover in the poverty population. In addition to the fluctuating income components of labor supply, wages, and employment, movement into and out of poverty is associated with normal life-cycle transitions--marriage, divorce, and remarriage; household departures and formations; childbirth and aging. While some persons are born into poverty and live out their lives in this status, that pattern does not characterize the experience of the majority of persons "in poverty" at anyone time, nor the majority of those who experience poverty at some time in their lives. / A Demographic Perspective on the Poverty Po~ulation Our purpose is to present an overview of the nature and implications of a demographic perspective on the low-income population. In contrast to perceptions of the lowest'economic stratum as a class with relatively stable membership and an adaptive "culture of poverty," the demographic perspective calls attention to pr,ocesses of entry and exit and to the resulting rates of replacement or turnover in this population. While some persons are born into poverty and live out their lives in this status, that pattern does not characterize the experience of the majority of persons "in poverty" at anyone time nor of those who experience poverty at some time in their lives. Although this is not a technical analysis, we must begin with attention to the definition of the population under discussion. Different populations are indicated by the terms "poverty" and "low income." The latter simply classifies individuals or households on the basis of the level of their personal or household income, whereas the poverty classification takes into account the number and ages of persons sharing that income, thus adjusting for needs of particular households. Based on some level of minimally adequate income to meet the economic needs of a household of a given size or composition, a poverty line is specified. For example, the following families would be at the nonfarm "poverty line" as officially defined in 1977 on the basis of before-tax cash income from all sources, including government transfers: