Factors Affecting Poverty and Welfare Use

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CHAPTER 5
FACTORS AFFECTING POVERTY AND WELFARE USE

Poverty is the largest single factor that drives people to apply for governmental assistance, commonly called "welfare." Many researchers agree that the major factors that create poverty are family size, family background, low educational achievement, unemployment, underemployment (for example, part-time workers who want to work full-time), low wages, and the prevailing economic conditions in the labor market.

Since 1974 children have been the poorest group in America, a status previously held by the elderly. The major reason for the decline in poverty rates among the elderly was social insurance benefits, nearly all of which come from Social Security. In 2002, 16.7 percent of all children in the United States lived in families with incomes below the poverty level. (See Figure 3.2 in Chapter 3.) Changes in household and family composition, particularly the increase in the number of single-parent families, have contributed to high poverty rates, especially the high rate of child poverty. According to the U.S. Census Bureau's Poverty in the United States: 2002 (Washington, DC, 2003), "Families with a female householder and no husband present made up half of all families in poverty."

ASSISTANCE FROM THE GOVERNMENT

Women and children are most affected by poverty. The two largest cash assistance programs for families with children have been Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), which replaced Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) under the 1996 welfare reform law, and the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). States currently provide cash assistance from their TANF block grants to families that meet the work requirements (mandatory after two years on assistance) and who have not exceeded the five-year limit for assistance. The EITC is available to needy working households, and most of it goes to families with children.

Other cash and noncash programs intended to help women, children, and the elderly include Supplemental Security Income (SSI), the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), Medicaid, the Food Stamp Program, the National School Lunch Program, the Child Care Food Program, the School Breakfast Program, the Summer Food Service Program, and Supplemental Food for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC).

Many poor families do not qualify for welfare benefits because of their income or resources. Most of these families are more likely to receive income from social insurance programs such as Social Security (benefits for children whose parents are dead, retired, or disabled) and unemployment compensation. Even though Social Security benefits are not means-tested (they are not based on financial need), they do help reduce the child poverty rate.

Poor Families More Likely to Need Government Assistance

In its 2003 report to Congress, Indicators of Welfare Dependency, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) examined dependence on welfare. The HHS found that, as one would expect, poor households relied far more heavily on government assistance to survive than did nonpoor households. In 2000 families with incomes below the poverty line received half (50 percent) their income from wages or salaries, compared to 87 percent of nonpoor families. Poor families received one-third (30 percent) of their income from means-tested public assistance programs, including AFDC/TANF, SSI, and food stamps, compared to less than 1 percent of nonpoor families. (See Figure 5.1.) Indicators of Welfare Dependency reported that means-tested benefits accounted for 34.5 percent of the income of poor families with children age five or under in 2000.

FAMILY STRUCTURE OF WELFARE RECIPIENTS

Single-Parent Families

An increasing number of children are being raised by one parent, usually the mother. The proportion of single-parent families grew rapidly between 1970 and 1990, while the proportion dropped for families headed by married couples. Since then the structure of American households and families has remained relatively stable. According to the U.S. Census Bureau in America's Families and Living Arrangements (Washington, DC, 2001), in 2000, 76.8 percent of all family households were families headed by married couples, down from 82.5 percent in 1980 and 87 percent in 1970. Meanwhile, the proportion of single-parent families headed by males rose from 2.4 percent in 1970 to 2.9 percent in 1980 and 5.6 percent in 2000. (See Table 5.1.)

According to the Census Bureau, the proportion of single-parent families headed by females grew from 11 percent in 1970 to 15 percent in 1980 and to 17.6 percent in 2000. (See Table 5.1.) Single-parent families, especially single-parent families headed by women, usually earn much less than families headed by married couples.

The increase in the number of single-parent families was most dramatic among African-Americans and Hispanics and less so among whites. From 1970 to 2000, the proportion of white families headed by married couples declined from 89 percent to 81 percent. During the same period, the proportion of white single-parent families headed by males rose from 2.2 to 5.1 percent, and the proportion of white single-parent families headed by females grew from 9 to 13.9 percent. (See Table 5.1.)

America's Families and Living Arrangements also reported that among Hispanics, the proportion of families headed by married couples dropped from 81 percent in 1970 to 67.9 percent in 2000. The proportion of single-parent families headed by males rose from 4 to 8.7 percent, and the percentage of single-parent families headed by females increased from 15 to 23.4 percent. (See Table 5.1.)

The largest increase in the proportion of single-parent families occurred among African-Americans. While the

		Family households				Nonfamily households
				Other families
Characteristic	All households	Total	Married couple	Male householder	Female householder	Total	Male householder	Female householder
All households	104,705	72,025	55,311	4,028	12,687	32,680	14,641	18,039
Age of householder
15 to 24 years old	5,860	3,353	1,450	560	1,342	2,507	1,286	1,221
25 to 34 years old	18,627	13,007	9,390	886	2,732	5,620	3,448	2,172
35 to 44 years old	23,955	18,706	14,104	1,102	3,499	5,250	3,261	1,989
45 to 54 years old	20,927	15,803	12,792	713	2,299	5,123	2,583	2,541
55 to 64 years old	13,592	9,569	8,138	351	1,080	4,023	1,533	2,490
65 years old and over	21,744	11,587	9,437	416	1,735	10,157	2,530	7,626
Race and ethnicity of householder
White	87,671	60,251	48,790	3,081	8,380	27,420	12,204	15,215
Non-Hispanic	78,819	53,066	43,865	2,468	6,732	25,753	11,278	14,475
Black	12,849	8,664	4,144	706	3,814	4,185	1,876	2,309
Asian and Pacific Islander	3,337	2,506	1,996	179	331	831	432	399
Hispanic (of any race)	9,319	7,561	5,133	658	1,769	1,758	974	783
Presence of related children under 18
No related children	67,350	34,670	28,919	1,826	3,924	32,680	14,641	18,039
With related children	37,355	37,355	26,392	2,202	8,762	(X)	(X)	(X)
One related child under 18	15,493	15,493	9,897	1,321	4,275	(X)	(X)	(X)
Two related children under 18	14,020	14,020	10,567	644	2,809	(X)	(X)	(X)
Three related children under 18	5,510	5,510	4,238	185	1,087	(X)	(X)	(X)
Four or more related children under 18	2,332	2,332	1,690	52	591	(X)	(X)	(X)
Presence of own children under 18
No own children	70,100	37,420	30,062	2,242	5,116	32,680	14,641	18,039
With own children	34,605	34,605	25,248	1,786	7,571	(X)	(X)	(X)
With own children under 1	2,939	2,939	2,264	174	501	(X)	(X)	(X)
With own children under 3	8,786	8,786	6,784	441	1,561	(X)	(X)	(X)
With own children under 6	14,986	14,986	11,393	706	2,887	(X)	(X)	(X)
With own children under 12	25,885	25,885	19,082	1,235	5,568	(X)	(X)	(X)
Size of households
1 person	26,724	(X)	(X)	(X)	(X)	26,724	11,181	15,543
2 people	34,666	29,834	22,899	1,730	5,206	4,832	2,607	2,225
3 people	17,152	16,405	11,213	1,106	4,086	746	570	177
4 people	15,309	15,064	12,455	682	1,927	245	179	66
5 people	6,981	6,894	5,723	307	864	87	70	17
6 people	2,445	2,413	1,916	130	366	32	26	6
7 or more	1,428	1,415	1,105	73	237	13	8	5
Average size	2.62	3.24	3.26	3.16	3.17	1.25	1.34	1.17
X Not applicable.
Note: Data are not shown separately for the American Indian and Alaska Native population because of the small sample size in the Current Population Survey in March 2000.
source: Jason Fields and Lynne M. Casper, "Households by Type and Selected Characteristics: March 2000," in America's Families and Living Arrangements, U.S. Census Bureau, Washington, DC, June 2001

proportion of families headed by married couples fell from 68 percent in 1970 to less than half (47.8 percent) in 2000, the proportion of single-parent families headed by men grew from 4 to 8.1 percent, and the percentage headed by women increased from 28 percent to 44 percent of African-American families. (See Table 5.1.)

Families with Children

Single-parent families make up a large proportion of families with children under eighteen years of age. The Census Bureau reported that in 2000, 27 percent of families with their own children were single-parent families. Two-parent families made up 73 percent of all family groups with their own children, down from 87.1 percent in 1970 and 78.5 percent in 1980. Meanwhile, the proportion of families with their own children headed by men rose from 1.3 percent in 1970 and 2.1 percent in 1980 to 5.2 percent in 2000. Similarly, the proportion of families headed by women with their own children rose from 11.5 percent in 1970 to 21.9 percent in 2000. (See Table 5.1.)

BY RACE. Table 5.2 shows the living arrangements of children in March 2002. African-American children are far more likely to live with a single parent than are white or Hispanic children. According to the U.S. Census Bureau study Children's Living Arrangements and Characteristics: March 2002 (Washington, DC, 2003), 53 percent of African-American children lived at that time with one parent; 48 percent of those children lived with their mothers only. Thirty percent of Hispanic children lived

	Total under 18 years
Characteristic	Number	Under 1 year	1–2 years	3–5 years	6–8 years	9–11 years	12–14 years	15–17 years	Total under 6 years	Total 6–11 years
All children¹	72,321	3,917	7,917	11,528	11,954	12,669	12,492	11,842	23,363	24,623
Two parents	49,666	2,778	5,552	8,028	8,307	8,615	8,521	7,864	16,358	16,922
Child of householder	48,843	2,710	5,410	7,890	8,191	8,490	8,388	7,766	16,009	16,680
Grandchild of householder	476	56	107	89	71	60	64	30	251	131
Other relative of householder	315	12	32	46	42	61	59	63	91	102
Nonrelative of householder	32	–	4	3	4	4	11	6	7	8
Householder has an unmarried partner-parent is not the householder or partner²	13	–	1	–	–	5	6	–	2	5
Mother only	16,473	832	1,723	2,584	2,724	3,032	2,865	2,714	5,139	5,755
Child of householder	13,747	568	1,274	2,071	2,286	2,641	2,474	2,434	3,913	4,927
Grandchild of householder	1,657	215	355	366	246	191	180	104	936	438
Other relative of householder	524	36	61	59	72	74	120	103	155	146
Nonrelative of householder	545	13	34	88	120	125	92	73	135	245
Mother is householder in an unmarried partner household²	1,430	121	234	254	242	258	165	155	608	500
Mother is partner in an unmarried partner household²	369	4	10	52	93	89	67	55	65	182
Children under 15 years	13,759	832	1,723	2,584	2,724	3,032	2,865	(X)	5,139	5,756
In a POSSLQ household³	1,562	129	256	337	350	313	177	(X)	722	663
Father only	3,297	233	402	506	464	544	551	598	1,141	1,007
Child of householder	2,851	193	340	449	371	479	482	537	982	850
Grandchild of householder	275	33	42	47	50	38	44	22	121	87
Other relative of householder	92	5	12	6	15	15	15	24	23	30
Nonrelative of householder	78	2	8	5	28	12	9	15	14	40
Father is householder in an unmarried partner household²	1,022	139	212	222	119	131	110	88	574	250
Father is partner in an unmarried partner household²	59	1	2	2	26	11	6	10	6	36
Children under 15 years	2,699	233	402	506	464	544	551	(X)	1,141	1,008
In a POSSLQ household³	904	144	213	214	137	115	80	(X)	572	252
Neither parent	2,885	75	240	410	460	479	555	667	725	939
Grandchild of householder	1,273	26	113	196	224	238	243	233	335	462
Other relative of householder	802	24	67	101	97	127	160	226	192	224
Foster child	235	5	18	38	47	34	49	43	62	81
Nonrelative of householder	575	20	41	76	91	80	104	164	137	171
Householder has an unmarried partner² 216	9	13	32	36	40	43	43	54	76
Children under 15 years	2,218	75	240	410	460	479	555	(X)	725	939
In a POSSLQ household³	186	6	19	38	41	43	40	(X)	62	83
–Represents zero or rounds to zero.
X Not applicable.
¹All people under age 18, excluding those living in group quarters, householders, subfamily reference people, and their spouses.
²If the parent is either the householder with an unmarried partner in the household or the unmarried partner of the householder, they are cohabiting based on this direct measure. Cohabiting couples where neither partner is the householder are not identified.
³POSSLQ (Persons of the Opposite Sex Sharing Living Quarters) is defined by the presence of only two people over age 15 in the household who are opposite sex, not related, and not married. There can be any number of people under age 15 in the household. The universe of children under age 15 is shown as the denominator for POSSLQ measurement.
source: Adapted from Jason Fields, "Table 1. Children by Age and Family Structure: March 2002," Children's Living Arrangements and Characteristics: March 2002, Current Population Reports, Population Characteristics, U.S. Census Bureau, June 2003 [Online] http://www.census.gov/prod/2003pubs/p20-547.pdf [accessed January 15, 2004]

with one parent, while 70 percent lived in two-parent families. Twenty percent of white children lived with one parent, while 80 percent lived with two parents.

The same study reported that in 2002 a higher percentage of African-American children (9 percent) than whites (4 percent) and Hispanics (6 percent) lived with neither parent. In part, this is because African-American children are more likely to live with grandparents without the presence of either parent.

DIVORCE

The divorce rate in the United States has risen markedly in every decade since the 1950s, although the increase slowed somewhat in the 1990s. In 1985 almost one-quarter of those living in the United States who had ever been married had also been divorced at one time or another. According to U.S. Census Bureau data, by 2002 the number of people who had been divorced more than quadrupled from 1970, from 4.3 million to 20.9

	Males
			Unmarried
Year	Total	Married	Total unmarried	Never married	Widowed	Divorced
All races
2002	106,819	61,268	45,551	34,229	2,636	8,686
2001¹	105,584	61,209	44,375	33,077	2,540	8,758
2000	103,114	59,684	43,429	32,253	2,604	8,572
1999	102,048	59,039	43,010	31,912	2,542	8,556
1998	101,123	58,633	42,491	31,591	2,569	8,331
1997	100,159	57,923	42,236	31,315	2,690	8,231
1996	98,593	57,656	40,937	30,691	2,478	7,768
1995	97,704	57,570	39,953	30,286	2,284	7,383
1994	96,768	57,068	39,700	30,228	2,222	7,250
1993	94,854	56,833	38,021	28,775	2,468	6,778
1990	91,955	55,833	36,121	27,505	2,333	6,283
1980	81,947	51,813	30,134	24,227	1,977	3,930
1970	70,559	47,109	23,450	19,832	2,051	1,567
1960²	60,273	41,781	18,492	15,274	2,112	1,106
1950²	54,601	36,866	17,735	14,400	2,264	1,071
White
2002	89,233	52,924	36,309	26,686	2,218	7,405
2001¹	88,215	52,903	35,312	25,814	2,117	7,381
2000	86,443	51,888	34,555	25,113	2,196	7,246
1999	85,750	51,645	34,105	24,827	2,084	7,194
1998	85,219	51,299	33,920	24,775	2,106	7,038
1997	84,540	50,860	33,680	24,471	2,264	6,945
1996	83,463	50,882	32,581	23,894	2,128	6,559
1995	82,566	50,658	31,909	23,667	1,921	6,321
1994	82,026	50,226	31,800	23,704	1,878	6,218
1993	80,755	50,305	30,451	22,738	1,954	5,759
1990	78,908	49,542	29,367	22,078	1,930	5,359
1980	71,887	46,721	25,167	20,174	1,642	3,351
1970	62,868	42,732	20,135	17,080	1,722	1,333
1960²	54,130	38,042	16,088	13,286	1,816	986
1950²	49,302	33,451	15,850	12,892	1,986	972
Black
2002	11,695	5,142	6,553	5,266	319	968
2001¹	11,527	4,978	6,549	5,139	333	1,077
2000	11,687	5,005	6,682	5,246	328	1,108
1999	11,483	4,709	6,775	5,250	391	1,134
1998	11,283	4,675	6,608	5,191	382	1,035
1997	11,113	4,623	6,491	5,137	340	1,014
1996	10,922	4,515	6,407	5,115	277	1,015
1995	10,825	4,632	6,193	5,031	310	852
1994	10,639	4,486	6,153	5,007	295	851
1993	10,442	4,431	6,012	4,750	426	836
1990	9,948	4,489	5,459	4,319	338	802
1980	8,292	4,053	4,239	3,410	308	521
1970	6,936	3,949	2,987	2,468	307	212
1960²	6,143	3,739	2,404	1,988	296	120
1950²	5,299	3,415	1,885	1,508	278	99

	Females
			Unmarried
Year	Total	Married	Total unmarried	Never married	Widowed	Divorced
All races
2002	114,639	62,102	52,537	28,861	11,408	12,268
2001¹	113,451	61,889	51,562	28,056	11,526	11,980
2000	110,660	60,527	50,133	27,763	11,061	11,309
1999	109,628	60,001	49,626	27,520	10,944	11,162
1998	108,168	59,333	48,835	26,713	11,029	11,093
1997	107,076	58,829	48,247	26,073	11,058	11,116
1996	106,031	58,905	47,127	25,528	11,078	10,521
1995	105,028	58,984	46,045	24,693	11,082	10,270
1994	104,032	58,185	45,847	24,645	11,073	10,129
1993	102,400	57,768	44,631	23,534	11,214	9,883
1990	99,838	56,797	43,040	22,718	11,477	8,845
1980	89,914	52,965	36,950	20,226	10,758	5,966
1970	77,766	48,148	29,618	17,167	9,734	2,717
1960²	64,607	42,583	22,024	12,252	8,064	1,708
1950²	57,102	37,577	19,525	11,418	6,734	1,373
White
2002	93,764	53,118	40,646	21,052	9,593	10,001
2001¹	92,989	52,911	40,078	20,539	9,723	9,816
2000	91,138	52,317	38,821	20,184	9,336	9,301
1999	90,463	51,979	38,485	20,105	9,245	9,135
1998	89,489	51,410	38,079	19,614	9,351	9,115
1997	88,756	50,987	37,769	19,139	9,404	9,226
1996	88,134	51,388	33,745	18,691	9,392	8,662
1995	87,484	51,390	36,094	18,250	9,399	8,445
1994	86,765	50,766	36,000	18,235	9,424	8,341
1993	86,045	50,668	35,377	17,660	9,512	8,205
1990	84,508	49,986	34,522	17,438	9,800	7,284
1980	77,882	47,277	30,604	16,318	9,296	4,990
1970	68,888	43,286	25,602	14,703	8,559	2,340
1960²	57,860	38,545	19,315	10,796	7,099	1,420
1950²	51,404	34,042	17,362	10,241	5,902	1,219
Black
2002	14,442	5,262	9,180	6,068	1,354	1,758
2001¹	14,236	5,257	8,979	5,868	1,376	1,735
2000	14,167	5,123	9,045	6,008	1,367	1,670
1999	13,964	5,054	8,909	5,840	1,395	1,674
1998	13,715	4,983	8,732	5,689	1,370	1,673
1997	13,514	5,058	8,457	5,584	1,307	1,566
1996	13,292	4,947	8,345	5,451	1,330	1,564
1995	13,097	4,942	8,155	5,250	1,380	1,525
1994	12,872	4,863	8,009	5,190	1,322	1,497
1993	12,495	4,820	7,676	4,867	1,401	1,408
1990	11,966	4,813	7,152	4,416	1,392	1,344
1980	10,108	4,508	5,600	3,401	1,319	880
1970	8,108	4,384	3,723	2,248	1,120	355
1960²	6,747	4,038	2,709	1,456	965	288
1950²	5,698	3,534	2,164	1,178	832	154
¹Data for March 2001 and later use population controls based on Census 2000 and an expanded sample of households designed to improve state estimates of children with health insurance.
²1950 and 1960 data are for the population 14 yrs old and over. Nonwhite data is shown for Black for these years.
source: "Table MS-1. Marital Status of the Population 15 Years Old and Over, by Sex and Race: 1950 to Present," U.S. Census Bureau, June 12, 2003 [Online] http://www.census.gov/population/socdemo/hh-fam/tabMS-1.pdf [accessed January 16, 2004]

million. This translated to 9.4 percent of the total U.S. adult population, compared to 2.8 percent in 1970. Further, there were more single women then men because men are more likely to remarry after divorce. Table 5.3 shows the numbers of married, never married, separated/divorced, and widowed men and women each decade from 1950 to 2002.

Divorce is a major factor in why women receive welfare, as divorced women are seldom as well off financially as they were when they were married. The fact that divorced women are more likely than men to receive custody of their children adds an additional financial burden. In 2002, 84.4 percent of custodial parents were female. (See Table 5.4.)

		Child support agreed to or awarded
			Supposed to receive child support payments in 2001
				Received payments
Characteristic	Total	Total	Total	Total	Full payment	Part payment	Did not receive payments	Child support not awarded
All custodial parents
Total	13,383	7,916	6,924	5,119	3,099	2,020	1,804	5,466
Standard error	282	219	205	177	138	112	106	183
Custodial mothers
Total	11,291	7,110	6,212	4,639	2,821	1,818	1,573	4,181
Percent	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
Family income below 2001 poverty level	25.0	22.1	21.6	19.1	15.0	25.5	28.9	30.0
Age
Under 30 years	26.8	22.4	22.3	19.9	14.2	28.7	29.6	34.1
30 to 39 years	38.9	41.6	42.5	44.4	42.5	47.3	36.7	34.3
40 years and over	34.3	35.9	35.2	35.7	43.3	24.0	33.6	31.6
Race and Hispanic origin
White	69.5	74.0	74.4	78.1	78.8	77.1	63.7	61.8
White, not Hispanic origin	56.0	62.8	63.4	67.3	67.8	66.6	51.7	44.6
Black	26.7	22.7	22.5	19.3	19.2	19.5	32.0	33.4
Hispanic origin (of any race)	15.0	12.4	12.2	11.9	12.0	11.6	13.0	19.3
Current marital status
Ever married	68.8	74.2	74.7	78.2	82.0	72.4	64.4	59.6
Never married	31.2	25.8	25.3	21.8	18.0	27.6	35.6	40.4
Educational attainment
Less than high school diploma	17.0	13.0	12.3	9.8	7.4	13.5	19.5	23.8
High school graduate	37.9	37.8	38.2	38.1	37.1	39.7	38.6	38.1
Less than 4 years of college	31.6	34.1	34.1	35.3	35.3	35.3	30.8	27.4
Bachelor's degree or more	3.5	15.1	15.3	16.8	20.2	11.5	11.1	10.8
Custodial fathers
Total	2,092	807	712	480	278	202	232	1,285
Percent	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
Family income below 2001 poverty level	14.7	16.7	18.3	16.0	10.8	23.3	22.8	13.4
Age
Under 30 years	11.6	15.1	16.9	14.4	7.6	23.8	22.0	9.3
30 to 39 years	36.0	35.4	33.7	37.1	33.8	41.6	26.7	36.3
40 years and over	52.4	49.4	49.4	48.3	58.6	34.7	51.3	54.4
Race and Hispanic origin
White	80.9	81.4	82.6	85.4	90.3	78.7	76.7	80.6
White, not Hispanic origin	70.5	69.5	69.1	73.3	80.2	63.4	60.8	71.1
Black	15.3	13.0	14.0	11.5	7.9	16.3	19.4	16.8
Hispanic origin (of any race)	11.1	12.5	14.2	13.1	9.7	17.8	16.4	10.2
Current marital status
Ever married	79.7	78.6	77.0	77.9	84.5	68.8	75.0	80.3
Never married	20.3	21.4	23.0	22.1	15.5	31.2	25.0	19.7
Educational attainment
Less than high school diploma	14.1	15.5	15.3	15.2	11.5	20.3	15.5	13.2
High school graduate	40.4	42.1	41.9	40.2	43.2	36.1	45.3	39.4
Less than 4 years of college	28.9	25.5	26.4	25.4	23.4	28.2	28.4	31.1
Bachelor's degree or more	16.5	16.9	16.4	19.2	21.9	15.3	10.8	16.3
source: Timothy S. Grall, "Table B. Demographic Characteristics of Custodial Parents by Award Status and Payments Received: 2002," in Custodial Mothers and Fathers and Their Child Support: 2001, Current Population Reports, Consumer Income, U.S. Census Bureau, October 2003 [Online] http://www.census.gov/prod/2003pubs/p60-225.pdf [accessed January 7, 2004]

NEVER-MARRIED ADULTS

The number of people age fifteen or older who had never married rose from 25 percent in 1970 to 32 percent in 2002. The proportion of those who have never married has increased as young adults delay the age at which they marry. (See Table 5.3.)

Single-parent women are more likely never to have been married (31.2 percent in 2002) than single-parent men (20.3 percent in 2002). In 2000, 47.4 percent of African-American mothers, 16 percent of Hispanic mothers, and 34 percent of non-Hispanic white mothers with children under age eighteen had never been married. In addition to a growing trend away from marriage, these percentages could also be explained by marriages following the birth of the first child.

CHILD SUPPORT

In 2002, 21.5 million children under the age of twenty-one lived with a custodial parent. Most of these children lived with their mothers. Of the nearly fourteen million custodial parents in 2002, about 11.3 million were women, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. (See Table 5.4.)

Child support is becoming an increasingly important source of income for women, with the growing number of families headed by women, coupled with the time limits now in place for receiving cash assistance. About 63 percent of custodial mothers and 38.6 percent of custodial fathers were awarded child support in 2002. (See Table 5.4.) In that same year, more than 7.9 million custodial parents were entitled to receive child support. The other 5.5 million custodial parents did not receive financial support from an ex-partner. Of those custodial parents receiving child support, about 7.3 million had legal agreements established by a court or other government institution. Another six million had some sort of nonlegal agreement. (See Figure 5.2.)

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in Custodial Mothers and Fathers and Their Child Support: 2001 (Washington, DC, 2003), 73.9 percent of custodial parents who were due child support in 2001 actually received partial or full payment. While the overall proportion of custodial parents who received partial or full payments dropped from 75.8 percent in 1994 to 73.9 percent in 2001, the proportion receiving full payment increased from 36.9 percent in 1994 to 44.8 percent in 2001. (See Table 5.4.)

Those Living in Poverty

Child support is often not enough to keep custodial mothers and their children out of poverty. According to the U.S. Census Bureau study, in 2001 about 23.4 percent (1.5 million) of custodial parents had family incomes considered below the poverty level. Twenty-five percent (2.8 million) of custodial mothers lived below the poverty threshold. Only 14.7 percent (307,000) of custodial fathers were below the poverty threshold during the same period. Almost all (93.6 percent) custodial parents below the poverty line in 1999 were mothers. (See Figure 5.3 and Table 5.5.)

The U.S. Census Bureau reported that approximately 36 percent of custodial parents who were due child support and were poor did not receive it in 1999. In addition, a similar percentage (30.9 percent) of custodial parents who were poor were not awarded child support in 1999. Of parents awarded child support, 64 percent of poor custodial parents actually received payments in 1999, compared to 74 percent of all custodial parents. (See Table 5.5.)

Child Support Received

In 1999 custodial mothers received an average amount of $3,844 in child support for the year. The average amount for custodial fathers was $3,175. According to the Census Bureau, the mean total income of custodial mothers who actually received child support was 36 percent smaller than that of custodial fathers who received child support ($24,983 versus $39,047). (See Table 5.5.)

One of the reasons women tend to have lower incomes than men is that fewer women participate in the workforce permanently and full-time. Custodial Mothers and Fathers and Their Child Support: 2001 reported that although about 82 percent of custodial mothers who received child support worked in 2001, 52.3 percent of them worked full-time year-round, whereas 71.7 percent of custodial fathers held full-time, full-year jobs. Despite the disparity between the sexes, the percentage of custodial mothers working full-time, year-round jobs increased from 40.9 percent in 1993 to 52.3 percent in 2001.

Socioeconomic Factors

Other socioeconomic factors that prevent custodial mothers from lifting themselves out of poverty were highlighted by the U.S. Census Bureau in 2003. They included:

Of poor women owed child-support payments in 1999, 63.2 percent actually received payments. (See Table 5.5.) For all custodial mothers supposed to receive payments, the receipt rate for payments due was nearly 75 percent.
Some 67.3 percent of white women received child-support payments that were due to them in 2002, compared to 19.3 percent of African-American women and 11.9 percent of Hispanic women. (See Table 5.4.)
The percentage of never-married women who received payments in 2002 was much lower (21.8 percent) than that of ever-married women (78.2 percent).
Women with at least a high school diploma were more likely to receive the child support due them (90.2 percent) than women with less education (9.8 percent).

Government Assistance in Obtaining Child Support

In 1975 Congress established the Child Support Enforcement program to ensure that children had financial support from both parents. Though improvements in paternity establishment and child-support collections have followed, much more remains to be done. In 1999 less than half (45 percent) of custodial parents due child support received full payments. Twenty-nine percent received partial payments, and one-quarter (26 percent) received none at all. (See Table 5.5.) Provisions in the Personal Responsibility and Work Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PL 104-193, or PRWORA) strengthened and improved child-support collection and enforcement activities.

Under PRWORA, states must have child-support assignment (requirement that families receiving assistance must assign child-support rights to the state) and good-faith cooperation requirements for TANF participants. The cooperation provision requires the custodial parent to provide the name and other identifying information about the absent parent. However, states have the flexibility to develop their own "good cause" exceptions to the cooperation requirements, such as a serious threat of domestic violence and/or sexual abuse. In addition, they may decide the penalty for noncooperation, although PRWORA mandates a minimum penalty of 25 percent of the monthly cash assistance.

The welfare-reform law (PRWORA) also required states to have child-support automation systems in place by October 1, 2000. Each state must have in effect a computerized child-support enforcement system to account for funds, to record data, to facilitate the collection and disbursement of support payments, and to keep records that improve the state's ability to locate missing parents and/or their assets. Enforcement procedures include denying or revoking driver's licenses, withholding wages, and seizing income tax refunds or unemployment compensation benefits. Data must be kept confidential for several reasons, including the possibility of family violence.

Child-Support Assurance

A family that receives assistance in the state's TANF program must assign any child-support rights to the state in order to reimburse some of the cost of that assistance. If child support is then collected on the case, the state is required to give a predetermined portion to the federal government. As an alternative to this provision, a state may choose to use its maintenance-of-effort funds (the 80 percent of its historic welfare expenditure level a state is required to spend on welfare) to run a Child Support Assurance program (CSA). Any eligible family with a support order could then choose to participate in the CSA program rather than TANF.

In a CSA program, children with child-support orders are guaranteed to receive a minimum amount of support each month. The child-support agency will collect the ordered support and, if necessary, supplement it up to the assured level. If the noncustodial parent does not pay the support, the CSA agency pays the family the guaranteed support and steps up

	All custodial parents				Custodial parents below the poverty level
	Total				Total
Award and recipiency status	Number	Percent distribution	Mothers	Fathers	Number	Percent distribution	Mothers	Fathers
Total	13,529	(X)	11,499	2,030	3,530	(X)	3,305	225
With child support agreement or award	7,945	(X)	7,150	795	1,803	(X)	1,730	73
Supposed to receive payments in 1999	6,791	100	6,133	658	1,486	100	1,421	65
Actually received payments in 1999	5,005	74	4,578	427	953	64	898	55
Received full amount	3,066	45	2,818	248	476	32	443	33
Received partial payments	1,939	29	1,760	179	477	32	455	22
Did not receive payments in 1999	1,786	26	1,555	231	533	36	523	10
Child support not awarded	5,584	(X)	4,349	1,235	1,727	(X)	1,575	152
Mean income and child support
Received child support payments in 1999:
Mean total money income (dol.)	26,183	(X)	24,983	39,047	7,169	(X)	7,098	(B)
Mean child support received (dol.)	3,787	(X)	3,844	3,175	2,784	(X)	2,788	(B)
Received the full amount due:
Mean total money income (dol.)	28,277	(X)	27,113	41,480	6,996	(X)	6,927	(B)
Mean child support received (dol.)	4,853	(X)	4,914	4,164	3,999	(X)	4,038	(B)
Received partial payments:
Mean total money income (dol.)	22,873	(X)	21,573	35,669	7,343	(X)	7,264	(B)
Mean child support received (dol.)	2,100	(X)	2,131	1,802	1,572	(X)	1,572	(B)
Received no payments in 1999:
Mean total money income (dol.)	23,004	(X)	19,845	44,314	6,230	(X)	6,307	(B)
Without child support agreement or award:
Mean total money income (dol.)	21,803	(X)	16,762	39,552	5,747	(X)	5,693	6,310
B Base too small to meet statistical standards for reliability.
X Not applicable.
source: "No. 539. Child Support—Award and Recipiency Status of Custodial Parent: 1999," in "Social Insurance and Human Services," Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2002, U.S. Census Bureau [Online] http://www.census.gov/prod/2003pubs/02statab/socinsur.pdf [accessed January 7, 2004]

its enforcement efforts for nonpayment. In return, the custodial parent would have to use the state's child-support system, which keeps records of support collections and disbursements. Collecting back payments would allow the state to recover or partially recover the cost of the guaranteed payment. In addition, states would determine at what point assistance should be phased out as a family's income increases.

With a Child Support Assurance program, the state saves money. When the state is using federal money from the TANF program, it must turn over a portion (maximum 50 percent) of the child support it gets from the TANF recipient to the federal government. In a state-funded CSA program, the recipient keeps the child-support payment, and the state pays the difference between the TANF assistance amount and the assured child support. The state saves money in this case because no money goes to the federal government. In addition, the CSA program recipient continues getting the assured support payment each month following employment, encouraging custodial parents to enter and stay in the paid labor force.

Government Enforcement

About 4.9 million custodial parents made 10.5 million contacts with child-support enforcement offices (IVD office), the department of social services, or other government agencies for assistance related to child support in 2001. Twenty-seven percent of the contacts were to collect unpaid child support, 22.9 to establish legal agreements, 17 percent to receive Temporary Assistance for Needy Families or Medicaid, and 13.9 percent to locate their child's other parent.

UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION

In order to qualify for unemployment compensation benefits, an unemployed person usually must have worked recently for a covered employer for some period of time and for a certain amount of pay. In 2000 about 125 million individuals were covered by unemployment compensation—97 percent of all wage and salary workers and 89 percent of the civilian labor force. Most of those not covered were the self-employed, agricultural or domestic workers, certain alien farm workers, and railroad workers (who have their own unemployment program).

Although the unemployment compensation system covers 97 percent of all wage and salary workers, only 44 percent of unemployed workers received unemployment benefits in 2002 according to the Ways and Means Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives (BackgroundMaterial and Data on the Programs within the Jurisdiction of the Committee on Ways and Means, Washington, DC, 2004). This compares with a peak of 81 percent of the unemployed receiving benefits in April 1975 and a low of 26 percent in June 1968 and October 1987.

Unemployment compensation varies widely by state. Figure 5.4 shows the percentages of unemployed receiving benefits in each state in 2002. The states with the highest rates of those receiving unemployment compensation were Connecticut and Massachusetts; South Dakota and Arizona had the lowest rates.

In 2003, 2.8 percent of the workforce covered by unemployment compensation received benefits, at a time when the total civilian unemployment rate was about 5.8 percent. The average weekly unemployment compensation benefit was $260. The amount of average weekly compensation (in 2003 dollars) rose about 17 percent between 1999 and 2003. (See Table 5.6.)

While the maximum a state may offer is thirty-nine weeks of coverage (except for special programs), all states provide up to twenty-six weeks of benefits, except Massachusetts and Washington, which offer thirty weeks. Benefits vary dramatically from state to state. In 2002 the average weekly benefits in Massachusetts ($360), New Jersey ($331), Washington ($329), Minnesota ($318), and Colorado ($313) were significantly higher than those offered by Puerto Rico ($107), Alabama ($167), Mississippi ($168), Arizona ($176), and Louisiana ($197). (See Table 5.7.)

Unemployment Compensation Important in Avoiding Poverty

Two studies examined the extent to which unemployment insurance serves as a safety net for low-income workers. The first, conducted by the General Accounting Office (GAO), Unemployment Insurance: Role as Safety Net for Low-Wage Workers Is Limited (Washington, DC, 2000), examined the rates at which low-wage and higher-wage workers received unemployment compensation between 1992 and 1995. The GAO found that while low-wage workers are twice as likely as higher-wage workers to be unemployed, they are only half as likely to receive unemployment

Statistic	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003 (est)¹
Total civilian unemployment rate (percent)	5.4	6.5	7.3	7.0	6.3	5.6	5.5	5.1	4.6	4.3	4.2	4.2	5.8	5.8
Insured unemployment rate² (percent)	2.3	3.1	3.1	2.7	2.6	2.3	2.3	2.1	1.9	1.8	1.8	1.9	3.0	2.8
Average weekly benefit amount: Current dollars	154	163	167	172	175	179	182	185	190	202	213	222	246	260
In 2003 dollars³	216	220	218	218	217	216	213	212	214	222	227	230	251	260
State unemployment compensation
Beneficiaries (millions)	8.1	10.2	9.6	7.8	8.2	7.9	8.1	7.5	7.3	7.1	7.2	8.2	11.7	10.3
Regular benefit exhaustions (millions)	2.2	3.2	3.9	3.3	3.1	2.7	2.7	2.6	2.3	2.3	2.3	2.5	4.0	4.1
Regular benefits paid (billions of dollars)	16.8	24.4	25.6	21.9	21.7	20.9	22.0	20.3	19.4	20.7	21.3	24.8	43.3	42.6
Extended benefits (State share: billions of dollars)	0.03	0.01	0.02	0.00	0.15	0.04	0.01	6	6	0.01	0.01	0.02	0.30	0.30
State tax collections (billions of dollars)	16.0	15.3	17.6	21.0	22.5	23.2	22.7	22.1	21.0	20.0	21.5	22.4	23.3	27.3
State trust fund impact4 (Income-outlays: billions of dollars)	0.88	9.13	8.03	0.93	0.66	2.24	0.75	1.80	1.60	0.71	0.19	2.38	20.00	15.60
Federal unemployment accounts
Federal tax collections5 (billions of dollars)	5.36	5.33	5.41	4.237	5.57	5.80	5.96	6.21	6.48	6.65	6.67	7.11	6.93	6.69
Outlays: Federal EB share plus Federal supplemental benefits (billions of dollars)	0.03	0.01	11.15	13.17	4.37	0.05	0.01	0.01	6	6	0.01	0.02	8.00	11.21
Federal fund transfers to states (Reed Act distributions; billions of dollars)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.02	0.10	0.10	8.10	0
Unemployment insurance service	1.74	1.95	2.49	2.52	2.43	2.38	2.31	2.34	2.55	2.41	2.48	2.36	2.79	2.87
Employment service	1.01	1.05	1.02	0.90	0.90	1.05	1.06	1.02	1.01	1.07	0.99	1.01	1.05	1.06
Total administrative costs	2.75	3.00	3.51	3.42	3.33	3.43	3.36	3.36	3.56	3.48	3.46	3.37	3.85	3.92
¹Based on the president's fiscal year 2004 budget.
²The average number of workers claiming state unemployment compensation benefits as a percent of all workers covered.
³Adjusted using the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers.
⁴Excludes interest earned.
⁵Net of reduced credits.
⁶Less than $5 million.
⁷Reflects a book adjustment of minus $967 million.
source: "Table 4-1.Unemployment Compensation Program Data, Fiscal Years 1990–2003," in The Green Book, U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Ways and Means, 2003 [Online] http://waysandmeans.house.gov/media/pdf/greenbook2003/Section4.pdf [accessed January 8, 2004]

insurance benefits. They attribute this in part to the sectors in the economy in which low-wage workers tend to be employed, such as the service and retail sectors, which often do not provide unemployment insurance.

However, a later study conducted by Ann Rangarajan, Walter Corson, and Robert G. Wood of Mathematica Policy Research did find evidence that the unemployment insurance system was protecting low-wage workers following the enactment of welfare reform in 1996. In Is the Unemployment Insurance System a Safety Net for Welfare Recipients Who Exit Welfare for Work? (Washington, DC, 2001), they examined a group of former welfare recipients who exited welfare between July 1997 and June 1998. They found that between 50 and 60 percent of persons leaving welfare for work are eligible for unemployment insurance, compared to 20 to 35 percent found in earlier studies. Nonetheless, almost 40 percent of those who leave welfare for work are ineligible for benefits. Some of those who leave the welfare rolls are ineligible for benefits because they quit their jobs. This study was conducted during a strong economic period, and more research is needed to determine whether unemployment insurance provides a safety net to low-wage workers and those leaving welfare during periods of slower economic growth and recessions.

Minorities Hardest Hit by Unemployment

The unemployment rate of African-American and Hispanic workers is higher than that of whites. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in June 2004 the unemployment rate for white workers was 5.0 percent, compared to 10.1 percent for African-Americans and 6.7 percent for Hispanics. Women who head families have a higher unemployment rate than either married men or married women with spouses present in the household. The unemployment rate for women maintaining families in December 2003 was over twice that of married men (2.5 times greater) or married women (2.15 times greater). (See Table 5.8.)

		2003 average weekly benefit		2003 potential duration (weeks)
State	2002 average weekly benefit	Minimum	Maximum	2002 average duration (weeks)	Minimum	Maximum
Alabama $167	$45	$210	13	15	26
Alaska	193	44–68	248–320	14	16	26
Arizona	176	40	205	17	12	26
Arkansas	223	62	345	14	9	26
California	217	40	370	18	14	26
Colorado	313	25	398	15	13	26
Connecticut	287	15–30	411–486	16 26 26
Delaware 228	20		320	15	24	26
District of Columbia	290	50	309	26	20	26
Florida	225	32	275	15	9	26
Georgia	239	40	295	13	9	26
Hawaii	297	5	395	19	26	26
Idaho	232	51	316	14	10	26
Illinois	280	51–56	326–438	19	26	26
Indiana	255	50	336	14	8	26
Iowa	255	43–52	292–358	13	9	26
Kansas	276	86	395	16	10	26
Kentucky	246	39	329	15	15	26
Louisiana	197	10	258	16	21	26
Maine	224	49–73	283–424	17	14	26
Maryland	241	25–65	310	16	26	26
Massachusetts	360	29–43	507–760	19	10	30
Michigan	276	81–111	362	15	14	26
Minnesota	318	38	467	17	10	26
Mississippi	168	30	210	15	13	26
Missouri	205	40	250	16	12.5	26
Montana	187	70	297	15	8	26
Nebraska	212	36	262	14	15	26
Nevada	232	16	309	17	12	26
New Hampshire	260	32	372	18	26	26
New Jersey	331	61–70	475	19	15	26
New Mexico	207	52	277	17	19	26
New York	275	40	405	19	26	26
North Carolina	259	34	408	13	13	26
North Dakota	219	43	290	12	12	26
Ohio	251	88	315–424	16	20	26
Oklahoma	234	16	303	16	20	26
Oregon	277	93	405	18	3	26
Pennsylvania	291	43	451–459	17	16	26
Puerto Rico	107	7	133	20	26	26
Rhode Island	304	56–106	427–533	16	8	26
South Carolina	208	20	278	14	15	26
South Dakota	198	28	241	12	15	26
Tennessee	210	30	275	14	13	26
Texas	259	53	328	17	9	26
Utah	275	23	365	15	10	26
Vermont	250	1	351	14	26	26
Virginia	311	59	318	14	12	26
Virgin Islands	289	32	375	19	13	26
Washington	329	107	496	20	16	30
West Virginia	215	24	351	14	26	26
Wisconsin 247 49	329	13	12	26
Wyoming 232	21	296	10	12	26
U.S. Average	257	NA	NA	17	NA	NA
¹A range of amounts is shown for those states that provide dependents' allowances.
NA - Not applicable.
source: "Table 4.5. Amount and Duration of Weekly Benefits for Total Unemployment under the Regular State Programs," in The Green Book, U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Ways and Means, 2003 [Online] http://waysandmeans.house.gov/media/pdf/greenbook2003/Section4.pdf [accessed January 8, 2004]

THE FEDERAL MINIMUM WAGE—A RELATIVE DECLINE

The federal minimum wage dates back to the passage of the Fair Labor Standards Act (PL 75-718) in 1938, which established basic national standards for minimum wages, overtime pay, and the employment of child workers. (The minimum wage is a "cash wage" only and does not include any fringe benefits. Consequently, the total compensation for minimum-wage workers is even lower than the total compensation for higher-paid workers, who

	Number of unemployed persons (in thousands)			Unemployment rates¹
Characteristic	Dec. 2002	Nov. 2003	Dec. 2002	Dec. 2003	Aug. 2003	Sept. 2003	Oct. 2003	Nov. 2003	Dec. 2003
Total, 16 years and over	8,698	8,653	8,398	6.0	6.1	6.1	6.0	5.9	5.7
16 to 19 years	1,235	1,109	1,128	16.7	16.9	17.5	17.1	15.7	16.1
16 to 17 years	488	500	515	17.7	18.8	19.3	20.2	17.5	18.3
18 to 19 years	743	619	613	16.1	15.7	16.2	15.2	14.7	14.7
20 years and over	7,463	7,544	7,271	5.4	5.5	5.5	5.4	5.4	5.2
20 to 24 years	1,467	1,555	1,431	9.9	10.2	10.6	10.1	10.4	9.6
25 years and over	5,990	5,995	5,853	4.9	5.0	4.9	4.9	4.8	4.7
25 to 54 years	5,123	5,141	5,033	5.0	5.1	5.1	5.1	5.0	4.9
25 to 34 years	1,989	1,993	1,932	6.2	6.3	6.3	6.3	6.2	6.0
35 to 44 years	1,759	1,796	1,755	4.8	5.0	4.9	5.0	4.9	4.8
45 to 54 years	1,375	1,352	1,346	4.2	4.1	4.2	4.1	4.0	4.0
55 years and over	930	886	883	4.4	4.1	4.0	3.8	3.9	3.9
Men, 16 years and over	4,832	4,883	4,576	6.2	6.4	6.4	6.2	6.2	5.8
16 to 19 years	675	660	631	18.1	17.6	19.6	18.7	18.3	17.4
16 to 17 years	263	267	261	19.4	20.6	22.1	20.4	18.3	18.4
18 to 19 years	411	393	369	17.6	15.6	18.2	17.9	18.1	16.9
20 years and over	4,157	4,224	3,945	5.6	5.8	5.8	5.6	5.6	5.3
20 to 24 years	807	885	816	10.3	10.7	11.7	10.8	11.2	10.4
25 years and over	3,377	3,349	3,170	5.1	5.2	5.0	5.0	5.0	4.7
25 to 54 years	2,851	2,860	2,683	5.2	5.4	5.2	5.2	5.2	4.9
25 to 34 years	1,073	1,119	1,051	6.1	6.7	6.5	6.5	6.3	5.9
35 to 44 years	954	974	916	4.8	5.1	4.9	4.9	4.9	4.6
45 to 54 years	824	767	716	4.8	4.3	4.3	4.4	4.4	4.1
55 years and over	526	489	487	4.6	4.4	4.2	4.0	4.1	4.0
Women, 16 years and over	3,866	3,770	3,823	5.7	5.8	5.8	5.7	5.5	5.6
16 to 19 years	560	450	497	15.3	16.2	15.2	15.4	13.0	14.7
16 to 17 years	225	233	254	16.0	17.0	16.5	20.1	16.6	18.2
18 to 19 years	332	226	243	14.7	15.8	14.1	12.5	11.1	12.2
20 years and over	3,306	3,320	3,326	5.2	5.2	5.3	5.2	5.1	5.1
20 to 24 years	660	669	615	9.4	9.7	9.5	9.3	9.6	8.8
25 years and over	2,613	2,646	2,683	4.6	4.7	4.7	4.7	4.6	4.6
25 to 54 years	2,272	2,281	2,350	4.8	4.8	4.9	4.9	4.8	5.0
25 to 34 years	916	874	882	6.3	5.7	6.0	6.1	6.0	6.1
35 to 44 years	805	823	839	4.7	4.9	4.8	5.2	4.9	5.0
45 to 54 years	551	584	630	3.5	3.8	4.0	3.7	3.7	3.9
55 years and over²	372	373	367	3.8	4.5	3.8	3.4	3.5	3.5
Married men, spouse present	1,698	1,741	1,564	3.7	3.9	3.8	3.8	3.7	3.3
Married women, spouse present	1,339	1,384	1,410	3.8	3.9	3.9	3.8	3.8	3.9
Women who maintain families²	741	775	779	7.9	8.4	8.5	8.4	8.3	8.4
Full-time workers³	7,344	7,364	7,019	6.1	6.2	6.2	6.1	6.1	5.8
Part-time workers⁴	1,345	1,311	1,354	5.3	5.3	5.7	5.5	5.1	5.3
¹Unemployment as a percent of the civilian labor force.
²Not seasonally adjusted.
³Full-time workers are unemployed persons who have expressed a desire to work fulltime (35 hours or more per week) or are on layoff from full-time jobs.
⁴Part-time workers are unemployed persons who have expressed a desire to work part time (less than 35 hours per week) or are on layoff from part-time jobs.
Note: Detail shown in this table will not necessarily add to totals because of the independent seasonal adjustment of the various series. Beginning in January 2003, data reflect revised population controls used in the household survey. Data have been revised to reflect updated seasonal adjustment factors.
source: "Table A-7. Selected Unemployment Indicators, Seasonally Adjusted," in "The Employment Situation: December 2003," in News, United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, January 9, 2004 [Online] http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/empsit.pdf [accessed January 16, 2004]

generally receive some kind of benefits in addition to wages. Most minimum-wage workers do not receive any benefits.) The provisions of the act have been extended to cover many other areas of employment since 1938.

The first minimum wage instituted in 1938 was $0.25 an hour. Over the years, it gradually increased, reaching $4.25 in 1991. In July 1996 Congress passed legislation that raised the minimum wage to $5.15 in 1997 by means of two 45-cent increases. (See Table 5.9.) In 2004 the minimum wage was still $5.15, although twelve states (including Alaska, California, and Illinois) had minimum wage rates higher than the federal rate, and two states (Kansas and Ohio) had minimum wage rates lower than the federal rate.

The minimum wage remained unchanged from 1981 to 1990. When inflation is taken into account, the minimum wage actually lost about half its value over this period. The increases in 1996 and 1997 still left the real value of the minimum wage well below the 1978 value. (See Figure 5.5.) A person working forty hours a week for fifty

			1966 and subsequent amendments³
Effective Date	1938 Act¹	1961 Amendments²	Nonfarm	Farm
Oct. 24, 1938	$0.25
Oct. 24, 1939	$0.30
Oct. 24, 1945	$0.40
Jan. 25, 1950	$0.75
Mar. 1, 1956	$1.00
Sept. 3, 1961	$1.15	$1.00
Sept. 3, 1963	$1.25
Sept. 3, 1964		$1.15
Sept. 3, 1965		$1.25
Feb. 1, 1967	$1.40	$1.40	$1.00	$1.00
Feb. 1, 1968	$1.60	$1.60	$1.15	$1.15
Feb. 1, 1969			$1.30	$1.30
Feb. 1, 1970			$1.45
Feb. 1, 1971			$1.60
May 1, 1974	$2.00	$2.00	$1.90	$1.60
Jan. 1, 1975	$2.10	$2.10	$2.00	$1.80
Jan. 1, 1976	$2.30	$2.30	$2.20	$2.00
Jan. 1, 1977			$2.30	$2.20
Jan. 1, 1978	$2.65 for all covered, nonexempt workers
Jan. 1, 1979	$2.90 for all covered, nonexempt workers
Jan. 1, 1980	$3.10 for all covered, nonexempt workers
Jan. 1, 1981	$3.35 for all covered, nonexempt workers
Apr. 1, 19904	$3.80 for all covered, nonexempt workers
Apr. 1, 1991	$4.25 for all covered, nonexempt workers
Oct. 1, 19965	$4.75 for all covered, nonexempt workers
Sept. 1, 1997	$5.15 for all covered, nonexempt workers
¹The 1938 Act was applicable generally to employees engaged in interstate commerce or in the production of goods for interstate commerce.
²The 1961 Amendments extended coverage primarily to employees in large retail and service enterprises as well as to local transit, construction, and gasoline service station employees.
³The 1966 Amendments extended coverage to state and local government employees of hospitals, nursing homes, and schools, and to laundries, dry cleaners, and large hotels, motels, restaurants, and farms. Subsequent amendments extended coverage to the remaining federal, state and local government employees who were not protected in 1966, to certain workers in retail and service trades previously exempted, and to certain domestic workers in private household employment.
⁴Grandfather Clause: Employees who do not meet the tests for individual coverage, and whose employers were covered by the FLSA, on March 31, 1990, and fail to meet the increased annual dollar volume (ADV) test for enterprise coverage, must continue to receive at least $3.35 an hour.
⁵A subminimum wage—$4.25 an hour—is established for employees under 20 years of age during their first 90 consecutive calendar days of employment with an employer.
source: "Federal Minimum Wage Rates under the Fair Labor Standards Act," U.S. Department for Labor, Employment Standards Administration, Washington, DC [Online] http://www.dol.gov/esa/minwage/chart.htm [accessed August 5, 2002]

weeks a year at minimum wage ($5.15 per hour) would gross $206 per week, or $10,300 per year, well below the poverty level for a family of three ($15,670 in 2004). For adults, this means that "day laborers" (those without a permanent job who look for a job every day) and those employed in many service jobs for minimum wages are unlikely to earn enough to escape from poverty.

The number of people working at or below the minimum wage dropped sharply from 7.8 million in 1981 to 3.2 million in 1989. The decrease was caused mainly by the sharp decline in the purchasing power of the minimum wage. As the value of the minimum wage dropped, the number of those hired at that minimum level also fell. After the recession of 1990–1991 and the slow recovery in 1992, 4.2 million workers in 1993 earned the minimum wage or less. In 1996 nearly 10 million workers were directly affected by the minimum-wage increase. Often employers use the minimum wage as a standard for low-paying jobs, perhaps paying $1 or $2 above minimum wage for a particular job.

Who Works for Minimum Wage?

Most workers affected by minimum wage increases are adults age twenty and older (72 percent), and many of those who work for the minimum wage (67.1 percent) are employed in the service sector. The majority (63.1 percent) of minimum-wage workers in 2002 were women, while some 60.4 percent of minimum-wage workers were employed in part-time jobs. About 82.1 percent of minimum-wage workers are white, while 12.7 percent are African-American and 14.1 percent are Hispanic. (See Table 5.10.)

While workers must receive at least the minimum wage for most jobs, there are some exceptions in which a person may be paid less than the minimum wage. Full-time students working on a part-time basis in the service and retail industries or at the student's academic institution, certain disabled persons, and workers who are "customarily and regularly" tipped may receive less than the minimum wage.

TRENDS IN TOTAL EARNINGS

In the 1980s and 1990s the median personal income of American men declined substantially, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. For all males, median earnings (half earned more and half earned less) reached $27,209 in 1973 (in adjusted 2000 dollars) and then began dropping, hitting a low of $23,975 in 1982, a year of deep recession. Males' median earnings then began a slow recovery, reaching $26,825 in 1989. Then, median earnings for men began to fall again, dipping to $24,681 in 1992, lower than the median earnings during the recession of the early 1980s, and about 10 percent below males' earnings in 1973. In 2000 the median earnings of males reached $28,269, an increase of only 3.9 percent since 1973. This trend applied to white, African-American, and Hispanic men.

According to Income in the United States: 2002 (Washington, DC: U.S. Bureau of the Census, 2003), the median income of full-time, year-round male workers in 2002 dollars reached $39,429; for women the figure was $30,203.

Median incomes for all sexes and races have changed by a fifth or less since the early 1970s. Hispanics' earnings increased almost 16 percent, from $28,600 in 1972 to $33,103 in 2002, and non-Hispanic whites' earnings increased by 22 percent, from $38,439 in 1972 to $46,900 in 2002. African-Americans' earnings saw the greatest increase, 47 percent between 1967 and 2002, from $19,734 to more than $29,000. However, the differences between the median earnings of whites, African-Americans, and Hispanics remained fairly constant. African-Americans earned about 42 percent less than non-Hispanic whites in 1972; by 2002 African-Americans' median income was about 38 percent that of whites. In 1973 Hispanics' earnings were 26 percent less than whites', and in 2002, Hispanics' earnings were 29.4 percent of whites' median earnings. (See Table 5.11.)

Female earnings rose 71.4 percent from 1973 to 2000. It should be noted, however, that Income in the United States: 2002 reported the median income of female workers in 2002 ($30,203) was still only 76 percent that of male workers ($39,429).

HAVING A JOB DOES NOT GUARANTEE ESCAPE FROM POVERTY

The working poor are those people who participated in the labor force for at least twenty-seven weeks (either working or looking for work) and who lived in families with incomes below the official poverty level. Over 6.8 million workers in 2001 (4.9 percent of those in the labor force) found that their jobs did not provide enough income to keep them out of poverty. (See Table 5.12.)

Working women had a higher poverty rate (5.5 percent) than working men (4.4 percent). Nearly three-quarters of the working poor were white (72.1 percent), but African-American and Hispanic workers continued to experience poverty while employed at more than twice the rates of whites. African-Americans (9.6 percent) and Hispanics (10.1 percent) with at least twenty-seven weeks in the labor force had a far higher poverty rate than whites (4.3 percent). Younger workers were more likely to be in poverty than older workers. Much of the reason for this is that many younger workers are still in school and work at part-time or entry-level jobs that often do not pay well. (See Table 5.12.)

In general, the lower the educational level, the higher the risk of poverty. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics in "The Working Poor in 2001" (Monthly Labor Review, November/December 2003), among workers in the labor force for at least twenty-seven weeks in 2001, those with less than a high school diploma (13.1 percent) had a much higher poverty rate than high school graduates (5.8 percent). Far lower poverty rates were reported for workers with an associate's degree (2.2 percent) or a four-year college degree (1.4 percent). African-American workers, regardless of education levels, had higher poverty rates than white workers. The highest poverty rate (26.3 percent) was for African-American women workers with one to three years of high school.

In 2002 working families headed by married couples without children were least likely to be poor (1.5 percent),

	Number of workers (in thousands)				Percent of workers paid				Percent distribution hourly rates
		At or below $5.15				At or below $5.15			At or below $5.15
Characteristic	Total paid hourly rates	Total	At $5.15	Below $5.15	Total paid hourly rates	Total	At $5.15	Below $5.15	Total	At $5.15	Below $5.15
Age and sex
Total, 16 years and over	72,720	2,168	570	1,598	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	3.0	0.8	2.2
16 to 24 years	16,191	1,158	340	818	22.3	53.4	59.6	51.2	7.2	2.1	5.1
16 to 19 years	5,808	605	226	379	8.0	27.9	39.6	23.7	10.4	3.9	6.5
25 years and over	56,529	1,010	230	780	77.7	46.6	40.4	48.8	1.8	0.4	1.4
Men, 16 years and over	36,135	800	218	582	49.7	36.9	38.2	36.4	2.2	0.6	1.6
16 to 24 years	8,242	453	146	307	11.3	20.9	25.6	19.2	5.5	1.8	3.7
16 to 19 years	2,850	243	97	146	3.9	11.2	17.0	9.1	8.5	3.4	5.1
25 years and over	27,893	347	72	275	38.4	16.0	12.6	17.2	1.2	0.3	1.0
Women, 16 years and over	36,585	1,368	352	1,016	50.3	63.1	61.8	63.6	3.7	1.0	2.8
16 to 24 years	7,949	705	194	511	10.9	32.5	34.0	32.0	8.9	2.4	6.4
16 to 19 years	2,958	361	128	233	4.1	16.7	22.5	14.6	12.2	4.3	7.9
25 years and over	28,636	663	158	505	39.4	30.6	27.7	31.6	2.3	0.6	1.8
Race, sex, and Hispanic origin
White	59,199	1,781	452	1,329	81.4	82.1	79.3	83.2	3.0	0.8	2.2
Men	29,829	626	162	464	41.0	28.9	28.4	29.0	2.1	0.5	1.6
Women	29,370	1,155	290	865	40.4	53.3	50.9	54.1	3.9	1.0	2.9
Black	9,692	276	89	187	13.3	12.7	15.6	11.7	2.8	0.9	1.9
Men	4,469	129	44	85	6.1	6.0	7.7	5.3	2.9	1.0	1.9
Women	5,224	147	45	102	7.2	6.8	7.9	6.4	2.8	0.9	2.0
Hispanic origin	11,206	305	110	195	15.4	14.1	19.3	12.2	2.7	1.0	1.7
Men	6,624	144	47	97	9.1	6.6	8.2	6.1	2.2	0.7	1.5
Women	4,582	162	64	98	6.3	7.5	11.2	6.1	3.5	1.4	2.1
Full- and part-time status and sex
Full-time workers	55,029	851	169	682	75.7	39.3	29.6	42.7	1.5	0.3	1.2
Men	30,472	367	82	285	41.9	16.9	14.4	17.8	1.2	0.3	0.9
Women	24,557	483	87	396	33.8	22.3	15.3	24.8	2.0	0.4	1.6
Part-time workers	17,568	1,309	401	908	24.2	60.4	70.4	56.8	7.5	2.3	5.2
Men	5,599	430	136	294	7.7	19.8	23.9	18.4	7.7	2.4	5.3
Women	11,969	879	265	614	16.5	40.5	46.5	38.4	7.3	2.2	5.1
Note: Data exclude the incorporated self-employed. Detail for the above race and Hispanic-origin groups will not sum to totals because data for the "other races" group are not presented and Hispanics are included in both the white and black population groups. Also note that the distinction between full- and part-time workers is based on hours usually worked. These data will not sum to totals because full-or part-time status on the principal job is not identifiable for a small number of multiple jobholders.
source: "Table 1. Employed Wage and Salary Workers Paid Hourly Rates with Earnings at or Below the Prevailing Federal Minimum Wage by Selected Characteristics, 2002 Annual Averages," in Characteristics of Minimum Wage Workers: 2002, U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, August 8, 2003 [Online] http://www.bls.gov/cps/minwage2002pdf.pdf [accessed January 17, 2004]

while the presence of children under age eighteen increased the married-couple poverty rate to 5 percent. Single women with families were most likely to be living in poverty (21.3 percent), although the working-poor population included a significant proportion of single men with children (12.7 percent). (See Table 5.13.)

In a family headed by a married couple, a greater likelihood exists that two members of the family are working than exists in a single-parent family. Two-income families are rarely poor. Only 1.2 percent of families headed by married couples with two or more wage earners were poor in 2001. Of the 3.7 million working-poor families, about 47 percent were families maintained by women. Working women who were the sole supporters of their families had the highest poverty rate, 20.8 percent. (See Table 5.13.)

Several factors affect the poverty status of working families: the size of the family, the number of workers in the family, the characteristics of the workers, and various labor market problems. The addition of a child puts a financial strain on the family and increases the chances that a parent might have to stay home to care for the child. While a child in a single-parent family may work, children are usually employed for low pay and at part-time jobs. In addition, the more education a person has, the more his or her job is likely to pay. Single mothers are more likely to have less education than married women.

Finally, the labor market plays a major role in whether a working family lives in poverty. Three major labor market problems contributed to poverty among workers in 2001—unemployment, low earnings, and involuntary part-time employment. Only 0.7 percent of workers who did not suffer from any of these problems were poor in 2001; 21.4 percent of low-paid workers were in poverty. Unemployment accounted for the poverty of

												Median income		Mean income
		Percent distribution
Race and Hispanic origin of householder and year	Number (thousands)	Total	Under $5,000	$5,000 to $9,999	$10,000 to $14,999	$15,000 to $24,999	$25,000 to $34,999	$35,000 to $49,999	$50,000 to $74,999	$75,000 to $99,999	$100,000 and over	Value (dollars)	Standard error (dollars)	Value (dollars)	Standard error (dollars)
White alone¹⁷
2002	91,645	100.0	2.5	5.2	6.8	12.8	12.0	15.2	18.9	11.6	15.0	45,086	183	60,166	245
White¹⁸
2001	90,682	100.0	2.4	5.0	6.7	12.8	12.2	15.4	18.7	11.6	15.2	45,225	212	61,474	264
2000¹	90,030	100.0	2.3	5.0	6.5	12.3	12.5	15.2	19.2	11.5	15.4	45,860	203	61,876	265
1999²	88,893	100.0	2.2	4.9	6.3	13.1	12.2	15.4	19.1	11.7	15.1	45,673	231	61,214	346
1998	87,212	100.0	2.4	5.2	6.6	12.8	12.4	15.5	19.6	11.4	14.2	45,077	226	59,726	351
1997	86,106	100.0	2.5	5.7	6.9	13.4	12.3	15.6	19.4	10.9	13.2	43,544	276	57,991	353
1996	85,059	100.0	2.3	6.0	7.2	13.5	13.0	15.6	19.7	10.7	12.0	42,407	219	55,911	331
1995³	84,511	100.0	2.4	5.9	7.1	14.2	12.3	16.9	19.2	10.5	11.5	41,911	219	54,758	318
1994⁴	83,737	100.0	2.7	6.2	7.4	14.1	12.8	16.6	18.6	10.4	11.1	40,843	229	54,053	314
1993⁵	82,387	100.0	2.7	6.4	7.4	13.9	13.1	16.8	19.0	9.9	10.8	40,394	235	53,048	306
1992⁶	81,795	100.0	2.5	6.5	7.2	14.1	13.1	16.7	19.7	10.1	10.1	40,458	196	50,991	227
1991	81,675	100.0	2.3	6.5	7.0	13.9	13.4	16.9	19.8	10.1	10.1	40,649	197	50,890	221
1990	80,968	100.0	2.3	6.2	6.9	13.5	13.4	17.5	19.8	10.1	10.4	41,668	191	51,916	232
1989	80,163	100.0	2.2	6.0	6.9	13.4	12.4	17.5	20.4	10.4	10.9	42,585	207	53,278	246
1988	79,734	100.0	2.4	6.5	6.6	13.6	12.2	17.5	20.5	10.6	10.1	42,040	248	51,807	244
1987⁷	78,519	100.0	2.5	6.6	6.6	13.7	12.9	17.1	20.2	10.6	9.7	41,568	210	51,161	221
1986	77,284	100.0	2.7	6.9	6.7	13.7	13.0	17.2	20.2	10.4	9.2	40,976	199	50,157	214
1985⁸	76,576	100.0	2.7	6.9	7.2	14.1	13.4	17.9	19.7	9.8	8.3	39,704	212	48,234	202
1984	75,328	100.0	2.7	6.9	7.4	14.5	13.7	18.1	19.6	9.3	7.8	38,951	196	47,104	183
1983⁹	74,170	100.0	2.8	7.1	7.4	15.0	14.3	18.1	19.7	8.7	7.0	37,743	170	45,698	176
1982	73,182	100.0	2.9	7.4	7.6	14.7	13.9	18.9	19.2	8.8	6.7	37,674	171	45,156	177
1981	72,845	100.0	2.6	7.4	7.4	15.3	13.5	18.6	20.1	8.7	6.3	38,081	176	44,863	170
1980	71,872	100.0	2.4	7.3	7.6	14.5	13.6	19.0	20.6	8.6	6.4	38,621	198	45,296	174
1979¹⁰	70,766	100.0	2.4	7.2	7.0	14.0	13.8	18.3	21.5	8.8	6.9	39,616	188	46,653	186
1978	68,028	100.0	2.2	7.1	7.3	14.1	13.7	18.6	21.5	9.1	6.5	39,323	173	46,170	186
1977	66,934	100.0	2.5	7.7	7.9	14.7	14.2	19.3	20.6	7.8	5.4	37,378	157	43,813	141
1976¹¹	65,353	100.0	2.5	7.8	7.7	14.9	14.4	19.6	20.5	7.6	4.9	37,025	153	43,174	139
1975¹²	64,392	100.0	2.7	8.0	8.0	15.1	14.3	20.2	20.1	7.1	4.6	36,354	133	42,093	138
1974^12,13	62,984	100.0	2.6	7.7	7.3	14.5	14.6	20.5	20.4	7.5	5.0	37,355	140	43,317	140
1973	61,965	100.0	3.0	7.2	7.3	13.9	13.5	20.8	20.9	8.0	5.4	38,626	147	44,271	140
1972¹⁴	60,618	100.0	3.3	7.5	7.3	13.7	14.3	20.8	20.5	7.4	5.2	37,899	145	43,681	142
1971¹⁵	59,463	100.0	3.9	7.9	7.1	14.6	15.1	21.7	19.1	6.5	4.2	36,263	138	41,316	134
1970	57,575	100.0	4.0	7.7	6.9	14.1	15.2	21.9	19.5	6.3	4.3	36,486	140	41,515	136
1969	56,248	100.0	3.8	7.8	6.6	13.3	15.9	21.8	20.3	6.3	4.1	36,805	135	41,610	139
1968	55,394	100.0	4.2	7.7	6.9	14.2	16.4	23.0	18.9	5.3	3.3	35,367	132	39,811	132
1967¹⁶	54,188	100.0	5.0	8.1	7.1	14.6	17.3	22.4	17.3	4.8	3.3	33,988	123	37,784	128
White alone, not
Hispanic¹⁷
2002	81,166	100.0	2.3	5.0	6.6	12.2	11.5	15.0	19.2	12.2	16.0	46,900	184	62,115	264
White, not
Hispanic¹⁸
2001	80,818	100.0	2.3	4.9	6.5	12.2	11.8	15.1	19.0	12.0	16.2	47,041	195	63,437	288
2000¹	80,527	100.0	2.2	4.8	6.4	11.7	12.2	15.0	19.4	12.0	16.4	47,642	191	63,759	286
1999²	79,819	100.0	2.0	4.7	6.0	12.6	11.8	15.2	19.5	12.1	16.1	47,650	314	63,221	391
1998	78,577	100.0	2.2	4.8	6.2	12.2	12.1	15.4	20.0	11.9	15.1	46,760	269	61,639	377
1997	77,936	100.0	2.2	5.2	6.6	13.0	12.1	15.6	19.9	11.5	14.0	45,338	237	59,849	(NA)
1996	77,240	100.0	2.1	5.6	6.9	12.9	12.8	15.6	20.2	11.2	12.7	44,263	304	57,602	(NA)
1995³	76,932	100.0	2.2	5.4	6.7	13.6	12.1	17.0	19.8	11.1	12.2	43,566	227	56,543	339
1994⁴	77,004	100.0	2.5	5.8	7.1	13.8	12.6	16.7	19.1	10.9	11.7	42,161	223	55,430	329
1993⁵	75,697	100.0	2.6	6.1	7.0	13.5	12.8	16.8	19.5	10.3	11.4	41,881	245	54,446	325
1992⁶	75,107	100.0	2.3	6.1	7.0	13.7	12.8	16.7	20.2	10.5	10.6	41,816	259	52,286	241
1991	75,625	100.0	2.1	6.2	6.8	13.6	13.3	16.9	20.2	10.4	10.5	41,619	205	51,981	232
1990	75,035	100.0	2.2	5.9	6.6	13.1	13.2	17.5	20.2	10.5	10.9	42,620	199	53,060	240
1989	74,495	100.0	2.0	5.7	6.7	13.2	12.2	17.5	20.7	10.8	11.4	43,501	213	54,341	266
1988	74,067	100.0	2.2	6.2	6.4	13.3	12.1	17.5	20.8	10.9	10.5	43,198	242	52,862	248
1987⁷	73,120	100.0	2.3	6.3	6.4	13.4	12.7	17.2	20.6	10.9	10.1	42,711	248	52,168	242
1986	72,067	100.0	2.5	6.6	6.5	13.3	12.9	17.3	20.6	10.7	9.6	41,907	216	51,159	235

5.4 percent of workers, and involuntary part-time work for 2.2 percent. However, it was the combination of two or more factors that had the most devastating effect on families. Unemployment coupled with low earnings and involuntary part-time employment accounted for 41.3 percent of those in poverty.(See Table 5.14.)

												Median income		Mean income
		Percent distribution
Race and Hispanic origin of householder and year	Number (thousands)	Total	Under $5,000	$5,000 to $9,999	$10,000 to $14,999	$15,000 to $24,999	$25,000 to $34,999	$35,000 to $49,999	$50,000 to $74,999	$75,000 to $99,999	$100,000 and over	Value (dollars)	Standard error (dollars)	Value (dollars)	Standard error (dollars)
White, not
Hispanic¹⁸
1985⁸	71,540	100.0	2.6	6.6	7.0	13.8	13.3	17.9	20.1	10.0	8.7	40,597	207	49,176	223
1984	70,586	100.0	2.5	6.7	7.2	14.2	13.7	18.1	19.9	9.6	8.1	39,759	221	47,916	214
1983⁹	(NA)	100.0	2.7	6.8	7.1	14.7	14.2	18.1	20.1	9.0	7.3	(NA)	(NA)	(NA)	(NA)
1982	69,214	100.0	2.7	7.2	7.4	14.5	13.8	19.0	19.5	9.0	6.9	38,306	193	45,815	196
1981	68,996	100.0	2.6	7.3	7.3	15.1	13.4	18.6	20.4	8.9	6.6	38,631	197	45,426	189
1980	68,106	100.0	2.3	7.1	7.5	14.2	13.5	19.1	20.9	8.8	6.6	39,306	108	45,889	207
1979¹⁰	67,203	100.0	2.3	7.1	6.8	13.8	13.7	18.3	21.8	9.0	7.1	40,173	223	47,192	207
1978	64,836	100.0	2.2	7.0	7.2	13.9	13.5	18.6	21.7	9.3	6.7	40,063	211	46,705	201
1977	63,721	100.0	2.5	7.6	7.8	14.4	14.0	19.3	21.0	8.0	5.6	38,120	215	44,366	210
1976¹¹	62,365	100.0	2.5	7.6	7.5	14.6	14.3	19.7	20.9	7.8	5.1	37,780	220	43,743	195
1975¹²	61,533	100.0	2.6	7.9	7.8	14.8	14.2	20.2	20.5	7.3	4.7	36,628	194	42,599	206
1974^12,13	60,164	100.0	2.5	7.6	7.1	14.2	14.5	20.5	20.7	7.7	5.1	37,674	185	43,799	191
1973	59,236	100.0	3.0	7.1	7.2	13.6	13.3	20.9	21.2	8.2	5.6	38,966	182	44,765	189
1972¹⁴	58,005	100.0	3.3	7.5	7.1	13.4	14.1	20.8	20.9	7.5	5.4	38,439	183	44,188	197
Black alone or in
combination
2002	13,778	100.0	6.9	10.7	9.5	16.3	14.5	14.8	13.9	6.7	6.6	29,177	384	40,334	470
Black alone¹⁹
2002	13,465	100.0	7.0	10.8	9.6	16.4	14.5	14.8	13.9	6.7	6.4	29,026	391	40,011	462
Black¹⁸
2001	13,315	100.0	6.8	10.7	8.8	16.3	14.3	14.9	15.4	7.0	5.9	29,939	353	39,872	421
2000¹	13,174	100.0	5.9	10.5	8.8	16.1	14.1	15.7	15.3	7.0	6.7	30,980	410	40,912	415
1999²	12,838	100.0	5.8	11.3	9.3	15.9	13.9	14.6	14.9	6.6	7.6	30,118	561	41,505	596
1998	12,579	100.0	6.7	13.2	9.4	16.9	13.4	14.5	14.0	6.4	5.6	27,932	437	37,615	502
1997	12,474	100.0	6.4	12.6	10.0	16.9	14.1	14.5	14.7	6.1	4.6	27,989	482	36,830	528
1996	12,109	100.0	6.9	13.0	10.7	16.8	13.6	15.0	14.0	5.4	4.5	26,797	527	37,043	724
1995³	11,577	100.0	7.0	13.4	10.5	17.5	13.2	15.1	13.1	6.5	3.7	26,240	448	35,623	609
1994⁴	11,655	100.0	7.3	15.1	10.4	17.0	13.5	13.2	13.3	5.6	4.6	25,238	469	35,119	504
1993⁵	11,281	100.0	8.5	15.3	11.8	16.2	13.7	13.5	12.0	4.9	4.0	23,939	473	33,370	554
1992⁶	11,269	100.0	8.7	15.9	10.6	16.9	13.4	13.7	12.7	4.6	3.5	23,558	481	31,968	433
1991	11,083	100.0	8.1	16.1	10.8	16.1	13.3	14.3	12.9	5.0	3.3	24,216	509	32,246	421
1990	10,671	100.0	7.8	15.7	11.1	15.5	13.6	14.5	13.3	4.7	3.8	24,917	568	33,106	447
1989	10,486	100.0	7.6	15.3	10.4	16.5	13.0	15.0	12.6	6.0	3.6	25,326	515	33,606	457
1988	10,561	100.0	7.1	16.7	11.5	16.5	12.8	13.6	12.9	5.6	3.4	23,965	500	32,832	479
1987⁷	10,192	100.0	7.7	17.0	10.3	17.2	14.4	13.0	12.2	4.8	3.4	23,725	457	32,035	441
1986	9,922	100.0	8.9	15.4	10.7	17.1	13.5	13.7	13.1	4.4	3.1	23,607	463	31,672	430
1985⁸	9,797	100.0	7.2	16.7	10.8	18.3	13.5	14.4	12.2	4.7	2.3	23,622	459	30,821	400
1984	9,480	100.0	7.4	16.8	12.4	18.4	13.9	13.4	11.1	4.4	2.1	22,189	427	29,593	364
1983⁹	9,243	100.0	8.3	16.9	12.7	18.4	13.6	13.2	11.3	3.9	1.8	21,365	399	28,458	349
1982	8,916	100.0	8.1	17.1	12.2	19.1	12.6	15.1	11.5	2.9	1.4	21,352	343	28,094	351
1981	8,961	100.0	7.5	17.7	12.3	19.5	12.7	13.8	11.5	3.8	1.2	21,370	359	28,072	340
1980	8,847	100.0	7.0	16.6	12.9	18.7	13.3	14.7	11.5	3.8	1.5	22,250	420	28,877	356
1979¹⁰	8,586	100.0	6.5	16.0	12.3	18.4	14.1	14.5	12.6	4.0	1.6	23,259	425	29,844	367
1978	8,066	100.0	5.3	16.8	12.2	17.9	14.0	15.5	12.3	4.3	1.7	23,631	500	30,200	394
1977	7,977	100.0	5.4	17.1	12.7	20.5	14.4	14.3	11.0	3.4	1.1	22,057	296	28,262	251
1976¹¹	7,776	100.0	5.3	17.2	13.2	19.3	14.4	15.3	11.3	3.0	1.1	22,016	273	28,129	251
1975¹²	7,489	100.0	6.4	17.2	13.8	18.5	15.1	14.6	10.7	2.7	0.9	21,824	321	27,242	242
1974^12,13	7,263	100.0	6.1	16.3	12.8	20.0	15.5	14.9	11.1	2.5	0.9	22,215	268	27,629	246
1973	7,040	100.0	6.8	14.3	13.7	19.7	14.9	16.0	10.4	3.0	1.3	22,737	354	28,234	280
1972¹⁴	6,809	100.0	7.8	14.6	13.0	19.9	15.4	14.2	11.5	2.3	1.3	22,122	332	27,945	298

												Median income		Mean income
		Percent distribution
Race and Hispanic origin of householder and year	Number (thousands)	Total	Under $5,000	$5,000 to $9,999	$10,000 to $14,999	$15,000 to $24,999	$25,000 to $34,999	$35,000 to $49,999	$50,000 to $74,999	$75,000 to $99,999	$100,000 and over	Value (dollars)	Standard error (dollars)	Value (dollars)	Standard error (dollars)
1971¹⁵	6,578	100.0	8.5	15.8	11.8	20.7	16.3	14.4	9.3	2.3	0.8	21,421	319	26,543	273
1970	6,180	100.0	8.9	14.6	12.2	20.5	15.6	15.0	9.8	2.6	0.9	22,207	305	27,116	293
1969	6,053	100.0	8.7	14.6	12.1	20.6	17.0	14.9	9.2	2.2	0.7	22,247	328	26,484	282
1968	5,870	100.0	9.2	14.5	13.1	22.2	15.3	14.5	8.4	2.1	0.6	20,855	303	25,400	268
1967¹⁶	5,728	100.0	10.7	15.3	13.8	21.6	15.9	12.8	7.0	1.9	0.9	19,734	329	23,712	265
Asian alone or in
combination
2002	4,079	100.0	4.3	3.8	4.0	10.5	10.3	13.9	18.9	12.5	21.8	52,285	791	69,476	1,321
Asian alone²⁰
2002	3,917	100.0	4.3	3.6	4.0	10.5	10.5	13.6	18.8	12.6	22.1	52,626	921	70,047	1,366
Asian and Pacific
Islander 18
2001	4,071	100.0	4.2	3.9	4.2	10.0	9.7	14.3	18.9	12.6	22.3	54,488	1,300	74,323	1,754
2000¹	3,963	100.0	3.6	3.3	4.3	8.9	10.0	13.6	19.0	13.7	23.5	58,225	993	76,019	1,578
1999²	3,742	100.0	3.9	4.1	4.6	9.0	10.0	14.5	17.8	12.8	23.2	54,991	1,938	72,718	1,843
1998	3,308	100.0	4.4	4.1	4.8	10.0	10.8	14.8	18.3	13.6	19.1	51,385	1,430	66,338	1,916
1997	3,125	100.0	4.3	4.4	5.7	9.9	9.5	15.8	19.7	11.8	18.8	50,558	1,406	65,799	2,039
1996	2,998	100.0	3.9	5.9	5.4	10.0	10.1	15.7	18.2	13.4	17.5	49,386	1,770	64,530	2,314
1995³	2,777	100.0	4.8	4.3	6.6	10.7	9.4	17.3	19.4	12.2	15.3	47,592	1,194	64,717	2,611
1994⁴	2,040	100.0	4.4	4.9	5.6	10.8	10.3	15.4	19.5	13.3	15.8	48,590	1,841	63,089	2,248
1993⁵	2,233	100.0	4.6	6.3	6.5	11.8	10.3	13.4	18.3	13.0	15.9	46,996	2,311	61,577	2,479
1992⁶	2,262	100.0	4.2	4.7	5.6	12.4	9.9	16.0	19.4	12.8	15.0	47,482	1,370	58,849	1,618
1991	2,094	100.0	3.8	5.6	4.8	11.7	12.3	14.8	19.3	12.8	14.9	46,932	1,514	59,588	1,756
1990	1,958	100.0	3.8	4.0	5.5	10.8	9.8	14.7	21.4	13.4	16.6	51,299	1,520	61,922	1,753
1989	1,988	100.0	3.0	3.5	6.3	10.1	10.1	17.2	20.6	12.7	16.5	50,562	1,367	62,856	1,829
1988	1,913	100.0	3.1	4.7	6.1	12.6	10.2	15.4	20.6	11.5	15.8	47,132	1,937	58,925	1,760
Hispanic (of any
race)²¹
2002	11,339	100.0	4.3	6.7	8.1	17.2	15.7	16.4	16.9	7.5	7.2	33,103	482	44,887	600
2001	10,499	100.0	3.9	6.6	8.2	17.4	15.4	17.3	16.1	7.8	7.2	34,099	433	45,089	570
2000¹	10,034	100.0	3.3	6.9	8.0	16.8	15.5	17.3	17.3	8.1	6.7	34,636	499	45,924	661
1999²	9,579	100.0	3.7	6.9	8.8	17.7	16.0	16.9	15.7	7.7	6.6	33,178	482	43,585	774
1998	9,060	100.0	4.5	9.2	9.4	17.2	15.6	15.9	15.4	6.5	6.2	31,214	602	42,177	897
1997	8,590	100.0	4.7	9.9	10.3	17.9	15.0	16.0	14.8	5.9	5.6	29,752	531	40,093	809
1996	8,225	100.0	4.4	10.3	10.6	19.0	15.3	15.4	14.1	5.9	4.8	28,422	551	38,806	898
1995³	7,939	100.0	5.1	11.5	10.7	20.0	14.3	15.5	13.5	5.2	4.3	26,788	584	36,562	820
1994⁴	7,735	100.0	4.9	11.6	10.7	18.1	14.9	15.7	13.5	5.7	4.8	28,112	522	37,907	946
1993⁵	7,362	100.0	4.4	10.7	11.4	18.8	15.4	16.3	13.3	5.6	4.1	28,048	564	37,123	781
1992⁶	7,153	100.0	4.8	10.5	10.3	18.9	15.6	16.3	13.9	5.7	4.0	28,384	587	36,204	569
1991	6,379	100.0	4.3	10.2	10.6	18.0	15.4	16.5	14.6	5.9	4.5	29,217	608	37,176	595
1990	6,220	100.0	4.3	10.0	10.8	17.8	15.2	17.2	14.8	5.6	4.3	29,792	611	37,320	615
1989	5,933	100.0	4.7	10.0	9.1	16.9	15.0	16.9	16.2	6.4	4.9	30,701	595	39,204	674
1988	5,910	100.0	5.2	10.0	9.6	18.6	13.8	16.8	15.5	5.8	4.5	29,738	733	37,967	805
1987⁷	5,642	100.0	5.1	10.9	9.6	18.3	15.4	15.8	14.9	5.6	4.5	29,272	642	37,523	695
1986	5,418	100.0	4.9	10.7	10.0	18.7	14.7	16.3	14.6	6.4	3.7	28,729	748	36,276	596
1985⁸	5,213	100.0	4.7	11.1	11.2	18.4	15.0	17.0	14.0	5.7	2.9	27,840	650	34,787	566
1984	4,883	100.0	5.3	11.4	10.5	18.7	13.7	18.0	14.4	4.8	3.1	27,989	702	34,803	679
1983⁹	4,666	100.0	5.1	11.5	11.8	18.4	15.7	17.0	13.4	4.5	2.7	27,053	690	33,137	637

												Median income		Mean income
		Percent distribution
Race and Hispanic origin of householder and year	Number (thousands)	Total	Under $5,000	$5,000 to $9,999	$10,000 to $14,999	$15,000 to $24,999	$25,000 to $34,999	$35,000 to $49,999	$50,000 to $74,999	$75,000 to $99,999	$100,000 and over	Value (dollars)	Standard error (dollars)	Value (dollars)	Standard error (dollars)
1982	4,085	100.0	5.2	11.0	12.4	18.5	15.4	16.9	13.5	4.9	2.3	27,078	715	33,419	678
1981	3,980	100.0	4.0	10.4	10.1	19.1	16.3	18.2	14.6	5.1	2.3	28,911	792	34,718	663
1980	3,906	100.0	4.6	10.2	9.9	20.1	15.6	17.1	15.2	4.5	2.6	28,218	765	34,467	686
1979¹⁰	3,684	100.0	3.4	9.8	9.4	18.9	16.1	18.8	15.5	5.1	3.1	29,936	863	36,221	728
1978	3,291	100.0	3.4	9.5	9.9	18.3	17.9	18.5	15.7	4.5	2.4	29,638	718	35,009	708
1977	3,304	100.0	3.3	10.0	11.2	20.0	18.3	18.2	13.3	3.8	1.9	27,884	490	32,908	508
1976¹¹	3,081	100.0	3.7	12.0	11.2	20.1	17.3	17.6	13.8	2.7	1.7	26,661	568	31,506	513
1975¹²	2,948	100.0	4.2	11.6	10.8	21.5	16.8	19.2	11.7	2.7	1.4	26,116	577	31,004	551
1974^12,13	2,897	100.0	3.3	9.3	10.8	21.1	17.1	19.8	13.3	3.6	1.6	28,410	622	32,911	536
1973	2,722	100.0	3.3	8.5	10.3	20.7	17.6	19.4	15.0	3.7	1.6	28,553	649	33,174	540
1972¹⁴	2,655	100.0	3.6	7.9	11.5	20.8	19.8	20.1	11.5	3.1	1.7	28,600	559	32,873	559
NA Not available.
¹Implementation of a 28,000 household sample expansion.
²Implementation of Census 2000-based population controls.
³Full implementation of 1990 census-based sample design and metropolitan definitions, 7,000 household sample reduction, and revised race edits.
⁴Introduction of 1990 census sample design.
⁵Data collection method changed from paper and pencil to computer-assisted interviewing. In addition, the March 1994 income supplement was revised to allow for the coding of different income amounts on selected questionnaire items. Limits either increased or decreased in the following categories: earnings limits increased to $999,999; social security limits increased to $49,999; supplemental security income and public assistance limits increased to $24,999; veterans' benefits limits increased to $99,999; child support and alimony limits decreased to $49,999.
⁶Implementation of 1990 census population controls.
⁷Implementation of a new March CPS processing system.
⁸Recording of amounts for earnings from longest job increased to $299,999. Full implementation of 1980 census-based sample design.
⁹Implementation of Hispanic population weighting controls and introduction of 1980 census-based sample design.
¹⁰Implementation of 1980 census population controls. Questionnaire expanded to show 27 possible values from 51 possible sources of income.
¹¹First year medians were derived using both Pareto and linear interpolation. Before this year, all medians were derived using linear interpolation.
¹²Some of these estimates were derived using Pareto interpolation and may differ from published data which were derived using linear interpolation.
¹³Implementation of a new March CPS processing system. Questionnaire expanded to ask 11 income questions.
¹⁴Full implementation of 1970 census-based sample design.
¹⁵Introduction of 1970 census sample design and population controls.
¹⁶Implementation of a new March CPS processing system.
¹⁷The 2003 CPS allowed respondents to choose more than one race. White alone refers to people who reported White and did not report any other race category. The use of this single-race population does not imply that it is the preferred method of presenting or analyzing data. The Census Bureau uses a variety of approaches. Information on people who reported more than one race, such as "White and American Indian and Alaska Native" or "Asian and Black or African American," in Census 2000 is forthcoming and will be available through American Fact Finder in 2003. About 2.6 percent of people reported more than one race.
¹⁸For the year 2001 and earlier, the CPS allowed respondents to report only one race group.
¹⁹Black alone refers to people who reported Black and did not report any other race category.
²⁰Asian alone refers to people who reported Asian and did not report any other race category.
²¹Because Hispanics may be of any race, data in this report for Hispanics overlap with data for other racial groups. Hispanic origin was reported by 11.4 percent of White household- ers (and no other race); 3.5 percent for Black householders (and no other race); 27.3 percent for American Indian or Alaska Native householders (and no other race); 1.4 percent for Asian householders (and no other race); and 19.0 percent for Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander householders (and no other race). Data users should exercise caution when interpreting aggregate results for the Hispanic population because this population consists of many distinct groups that differ in socio-economic characteristics, culture, and recency of immigration. Data were first collected for Hispanics in 1972.
source: Adapted from Carmen DeNavas-Walt, Robert W. Cleveland, and Bruce H. Webster, Jr., "Households by Total Money Income, Race, and Hispanic Origin of Householder: 1967 to 2002," In Income in the United States: 2002, Current Population Reports, Consumer Income, U.S. Census Bureau, [Online] http://www.census.gov/prod/2003pubs/p60-221.pdf [accessed January 3, 2004]

					Below poverty level				Rate*
Age and sex	Total	White	Black	Hispanic origin	Total	White	Black	Hispanic origin	Total	White	Black	Hispanic origin
Total, 16 years and older	138,143	114,874	15,657	16,463	6,802	4,906	1,503	1,659	4.9	4.3	9.6	10.1
16 to 19 years	4,848	4,136	519	710	506	362	121	102	10.4	8.8	23.3	14.3
20 to 24 years	13,011	10,667	1,648	2,350	1,292	934	282	254	9.9	8.8	17.1	10.8
25 to 34 years	31,307	25,314	3,966	5,349	1,988	1,432	474	607	6.3	5.7	11.9	11.3
35 to 44 years	36,368	29,874	4,399	4,229	1,581	1,134	336	441	4.3	3.8	7.6	10.4
45 to 54 years	32,128	27,034	3,363	2,530	922	660	190	173	2.9	2.4	5.6	6.8
55 to 64 years	16,008	13,902	1,386	1,081	443	339	78	70	2.8	2.4	5.6	6.5
65 years and older	4,473	3,948	377	215	70	45	23	12	1.6	1.1	6.2	5.6
Men, 16 years and older	74,316	62,899	7,295	9,787	3,275	2,562	520	992	4.4	4.1	7.1	10.1
16 to 19 years	2,483	2,119	261	405	232	170	53	59	9.4	8.0	20.2	14.5
20 to 24 years	6,854	5,708	761	1,451	545	417	85	153	7.9	7.3	11.1	10.6
25 to 34 years	17,248	14,286	1,843	3,350	953	775	137	377	5.5	5.4	7.4	11.3
35 to 44 years	19,611	16,490	2,010	2,501	782	616	119	275	4.0	3.7	5.9	11.0
45 to 54 years	16,949	14,471	1,572	1,348	501	384	77	81	3.0	2.7	4.9	6.0
55 to 64 years	8,599	7,545	651	602	231	179	41	39	2.7	2.4	6.3	6.5
65 years and older	2,572	2,279	196	129	32	21	9	8	1.2	0.9	4.5	5.9
Women, 16 years and older	63,827	51,976	8,363	6,677	3,526	2,344	983	667	5.5	4.5	11.8	10.0
16 to 19 years	2,365	2,017	258	305	274	192	68	43	11.6	9.5	26.5	14.0
20 to 24 years	6,157	4,958	886	898	747	517	197	101	12.1	10.4	22.3	11.3
25 to 34 years	14,059	11,028	2,122	1,999	1,035	657	337	230	7.4	6.0	15.9	11.5
35 to 44 years	16,757	13,384	2,389	1,728	799	518	216	166	4.8	3.9	9.1	9.6
45 to 54 years	15,179	12,562	1,790	1,182	421	276	112	91	2.8	2.2	6.3	7.7
55 to 64 years	7,409	6,357	736	479	212	160	37	31	2.9	2.5	5.0	6.5
65 years and older	1,900	1,669	181	85	38	24	14	4	2.0	1.4	7.9	5.2
*Number below the poverty level as a percent of the total in the labor force for 27 weeks or more.
Note: Detail for race and Hispanic-origin groups will not sum to totals because data for the "other races" group are not presented and Hispanics are included in both the white and black population groups. Estimates are based on Census 2000 population controls and an expanded sample and are not strictly comparable with estimates for earlier years previously published.
source: "Table 2. Persons in the Labor Force for 27 Weeks or More: Poverty Status by Age, Sex, Race, and Hispanic Origin, 2001," in A Profile of the Working Poor, 2001, U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, June 2003 [Online] http://www.bls.gov/cps/cpswp2001.pdf [accessed January 7, 2004]

Characteristic	Total families	At or above poverty level	Below poverty level	Rate*
Total primary families	62,251	58,553	3,697	5.9
With related children under 18	35,542	32,418	3,125	8.8
Without children	26,708	26,136	573	2.1
With one member in the labor force	25,626	22,505	3,121	12.2
With two or more members in the	36,625	36,048	576	1.6
labor force
With two members	30,712	30,180	532	1.7
With three or more members	5,913	5,868	44	.8
Married-couple families:
With related children under 18	26,159	24,856	1,303	5.0
Without children	21,692	21,364	329	1.5
With one member in the labor force	15,550	14,318	1,231	7.9
Husband	11,691	10,747	944	8.1
Wife	3,224	2,977	246	7.6
Relative	635	594	41	6.5
With two or more members in the	32,301	31,901	400	1.2
labor force
With two members	27,301	26,927	374	1.4
With three or more members	5,000	4,974	26	.5
Families maintained by women:
With related children under 18	7,297	5,740	1,557	21.3
Without children	3,210	3,041	168	5.2
With one member in the labor force	7,657	6,066	1,591	20.8
Householder	6,367	4,967	1,400	22.0
Relative	1,290	1,099	191	14.8
With two or more members in the	2,850	2,716	134	4.7
labor force
Families maintained by men:
With related children under 18	2,086	1,821	265	12.7
Without children	1,807	1,731	76	4.2
With one member in the labor force	2,419	2,120	299	12.3
Householder	1,972	1,732	240	12.2
Relative	447	388	59	13.1
With two or more members in the	1,474	1,432	42	2.9
labor force
*Number below the poverty level as a percent of the total in the labor force for 27 weeks or more.
Note: Data relate to primary families with at least one member in the labor force for 27 weeks or more. Estimates are based on Census 2000 population controls and an expanded sample and are not strictly comparable with estimates for earlier years previously published.
source: "Table 6. Primary Families: Poverty Status, Presence of Related Children, and Work Experience of Family Members in the Labor Force for 27 Weeks or More, 2001," in A Profile of the Working Poor, 2001, U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, June 2003 [Online] http://www.bls.gov/cps/cpswp2001.pdf [accessed January 7, 2004]

			Below poverty level
Poverty status and labor market problems	Total	At or above poverty level	Number	Percent	Rate¹
Total, full-time wage and salary workers	109,117	105,630	3,487	100.0	3.2
No unemployment, involuntary part-time
employment, or low earnings²	88,769	88,176	593	17.0	0.7
Unemployment only	6,762	6,399	363	10.4	5.4
Involuntary part-time employment only	2,658	2,598	60	1.7	2.2
Low earnings only	7,128	5,601	1,526	43.8	21.4
Unemployment and involuntary part-time employment	1,172	1,079	93	2.7	7.9
Unemployment and low earnings	1,459	959	500	14.3	34.3
Involuntary part-time employment and low earnings	726	557	169	4.8	23.2
Unemployment, involuntary part-time employment,
and low earnings	444	261	184	5.3	41.3
¹Number below the poverty level as a percent of the total in the labor force for 27 weeks or more.
²The low earnings threshold in 2001 was $260.66 per week.
Note: Data refer to persons 16 years and older.
source: Abraham T. Mosisa, "Table 5. Persons in the Labor Force for 27 Weeks or More: Poverty Status and Labor Market Problems of Full-Time Wage and Salary Workers, 2001," in "The Working Poor in 2001," Monthly Labor Review, November/December 2003 [Online] http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2003/11/art2full.pdf [accessed January 19, 2004]