No.90
According to the official poverty measure, the states with the highest percentage of people in poverty in the 2011-2013 period were:
1. New Mexico: 21.5%
2. Mississippi: 20.7%
3. Louisiana: 20.6%
4. Arizona: 18.9%
5. Arkansas: 18.7%
6. Kentucky: 18.1%
7. Tennessee: 17.8%
8. Georgia: 17.6%
9. West Virginia: 17.4%
10. South Carolina: 17.3%
The regions with the highest percentage of people in poverty, regions being defined by the U.S census Bureau, are:
1. The South: 16.2%
2. The West: 14.8%
3. The Midwest: 13.0%
4. The Northeast: 12.8%
Unfortunately, the Official Poverty Measure used in the United States is flawed. The U.S. has developed a much more accurate way to track poverty, called the supplemental poverty measure.
The supplemental poverty measure was created due to criticisms of the official poverty measure's methodology and to see how well welfare helps the poor. The SPM is just an additional statistic to help understand poverty on a macroeconomic level and is not used to determine welfare benefits. The SPM takes these into account:
Cost of living, state by state.
Snap Benefits
Medical Expenses
Housing Subsidies
Recipients of the free school lunch program
There are more but I don't feel like listing them all here.
The states with the highest amount of people in poverty for 2011-2013 under the supplemental Poverty Measure are:
1. California: 23.4% +
2. Nevada: 20.0% +
3. Florida: 19.1% +
4. Arizona: 19.0% +
5. Hawaii: 18.4% +
6. Louisiana: 18.3% -
7. New York: 17.5% +
7. Georgia: 17.5% -
8. South Carolina: 16.4% -
9. Arkansas: 16.1% -
10. New Mexico: 16.0% -
A + indicates that a state's SPM is greater than the official statistic, while a - indicates taht it is lower.
Poorest percentage of people by region using SPM:
1. The West: 18.7% +
2. The South: 15.9% -
3. The Northeast: 14.3% +
4. The Midwest: 12.5% -
I hope this has been educational.
No.97
thx for the insight