Among the OECD countries, Costa Rica had the highest share of children living in poverty, reaching **** percent in 2022. Türkiye followed with a share of ***percent of children living in poverty, while **** percent of children in Spain, Chile, and the United States did the same. On the other hand, only ***** percent of children in Finland were living in poverty.

Abstract

Young Lives: An International Study of Childhood Poverty is a collaborative project investigating the changing nature of childhood poverty in selected developing countries. The UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) is funding the first three-year phase of the project.

Young Lives involves collaboration between Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and the academic sector. In the UK, the project is being run by Save the Children-UK together with an academic consortium that comprises the University of Reading, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, South Bank University, the Institute of Development Studies at Sussex University and the South African Medical Research Council.

The study is being conducted in Ethiopia, India (in Andhra Pradesh), Peru and Vietnam. These countries were selected because they reflect a range of cultural, geographical and social contexts and experience differing issues facing the developing world; high debt burden, emergence from conflict, and vulnerability to environmental conditions such as drought and flood.

Objectives of the study The Young Lives study has three broad objectives: • producing good quality panel data about the changing nature of the lives of children in poverty. • trace linkages between key policy changes and child poverty • informing and responding to the needs of policy makers, planners and other stakeholders There will also be a strong education and media element, both in the countries where the project takes place, and in the UK.

The study takes a broad approach to child poverty, exploring not only household economic indicators such as assets and wealth, but also child centred poverty measures such as the child’s physical and mental health, growth, development and education. These child centred measures are age specific so the information collected by the study will change as the children get older.

Further information about the survey, including publications, can be downloaded from the Young Lives website.

Geographic coverage

Young Lives is an international study of childhood poverty, involving 12,000 children in 4 countries. - Ethiopia (20 communities in Addis Ababa, Amhara, Oromia, and Southern National, Nationalities and People's Regions) - India (20 sites across Andhra Pradesh and Telangana) - Peru (74 communities across Peru) - Vietnam (20 communities in the communes of Lao Cai in the north-west, Hung Yen province in the Red River Delta, the city of Danang on the coast, Phu Yen province from the South Central Coast and Ben Tre province on the Mekong River Delta)

Analysis unit

Individuals; Families/households

Universe

Location of Units of Observation: Cross-national; Subnational Population: Children aged approximately 1 year old and their households, and children aged 8 years old and their households, in Ethiopia, India (Andhra Pradesh), Peru and Vietnam, in 2002. See documentation for details of the exact regions covered in each country.

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

Purposive selection/case studies

A key need for the study's objectives was to obtain data at different levels - the children, their households, the community in which they resided, as well as at regional and national levels. This need thus determined that children should be selected in geographic clusters rather than randomly selected across the country. There was, however, a much more important reason for recruiting children in clusters - the sites are also intended to provide suitable settings for a range of complementary thematic studies. For example, one or a few sites may be used for a qualitative study designed to achieve a deeper level of understanding of some social issues, either because they are important in that particular place, or because the sites are appropriate locales to investigate a more general concern. The quantitative panel study is seen as the foundation upon which a coherent and interesting range of linked studies can be set up.

Thus the design was decided, in each country, comprising 20 geographic clusters with 100 children sampled in each cluster.

For details on sample design, see the methodological document which is available in the documentation.

Sampling deviation

Ethiopia: 1,999 (1-year-olds), 1,000 (8-year-olds); India: 2,011 (1-year-olds), 1,008 (8-year-olds); Peru: 2,052 (1-year-olds), 714 (8-year-olds); Vietnam: 2,000 (1-year-olds), 1,000 (8-year-olds).

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face interview

Research instrument

Every questionnaire used in the study consists of a 'core' element and a country-specific element, which focuses on issues important for that country.

The core element of the questionnaires consists of the following sections: Core 6-17.9 month old household questionnaire • Section 1: Locating information • Section 2: Household composition • Section 3: Pregnancy, delivery and breastfeeding • Section 4: Child care • Section 5: Child health • Section 6: Caregiver background • Section 7: Livelihoods and time allocation • Section 8: Economic changes • Section 9: Socio-economic status • Section 10: Caregiver psychosocial well-being • Section 11: Social capital • Section 12: Tracking details • Section 13: Anthropometry

Core 7.5-8.5 year old household questionnaire • Section 1: Locating information • Section 2: Household composition • Section 3: Births and deaths • Section 4: Child school • Section 5: Child health • Section 6: Caregiver background • Section 7: Livelihoods and time allocation • Section 8: Economic changes • Section 9: Socio-economic status • Section 10: Child mental health • Section 11: Social capital • Section 12: Tracking details • Section 13: Anthropometry

The communnity questionnaire consists of the following sections: • Section 1: Physical environment • Section 2: Social environment • Section 3: Infrastructure and access • Section 4: Economy • Section 5: Health and education

Pan London financial capability data to support Local Authorities Child Poverty Needs Assessments, updated in April 2011 with 2010 data.

This data is designed to help local authorities improve their understanding of the areas within their borough where low financial capability is most likely to exist. This could be useful to child poverty needs assessments, and subsequent work to develop and target support services for residents within their borough.

Supporting Documents

Technical information about the datasets is available in the readme.txt file.

A support note prepared by MAS and CPU is available to advise local authorities on using the data in Child Poverty Needs Assessments.

Profiles of the data categories are available in the Pen Portraits report and details of the underlying model used by Experian are available in Technical Model report.

Further Information

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For more information on the Money Advice Service (formerly the Consumer Financial Education Body): http://www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk

For more information on Child Poverty Unit: http://www.education.gov.uk/childrenandyoungpeople/
families/childpoverty

For details of the Experian model:
http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/
http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/thoresen_review_index.htm

The figures presented here are from the End Child Poverty Coalition are based on tax credit data, used to estimate the percentage of children on low incomes in local authorities, parliamentary constituencies and wards across the UK. They also use national trends in worklessness to estimate recent changes in the number of children who are in poverty because their parents have lost their jobs, to update the local tax credit data which is more than two years old. This is not a direct measure of exactly how many children are in poverty on the official definition, but is based on the closest to an equivalent measure we have of local levels of child poverty. The data have been adjusted to produce figures compatible with the measures derived from the national survey of income, showing how many children live in households with below 60 per cent of median income. Specifically, the adjustments ensure that the total reported level of child poverty, before and after housing costs, is similar when adding up all the local figures as the official national totals. Thus, the local data gives an idea of the relative poverty levels in different areas, but are adjusted to estimate what these actual levels would be if they could be measured on the same basis as the national household income survey. The local data starts by classifying children in poverty if they live in families in receipt of out of work benefits or in receipt of in-work tax credits where their reported family income is less than 60 per cent of median income. This indicator, compiled officially as a local estimate of child poverty, has been reported for August 2011 by HMRC. However, on its own it is provides an inaccurate picture of actual child poverty, considerably overstating the numbers in out-of-work poverty and understating the numbers in working poverty. While these factors may balance out overall, they can seriously misrepresent the overall trend where working and non-working poverty change in different ways, as well as misrepresenting local differences where working poverty is relatively more important in some areas than others. Therefore, the figures include an upward adjustment in the in-work figure and a downward adjustment in the out-of-work figure. The adjustments are made separately to for AHC and BHC estimates, in each case according to how the total of the local estimates compare to the actual national measure. Figures are then updated, taking into account Labour Force Survey data on the number of children in non-working households for the final quarter of 2013. Additional metadata: - Licence: http://reference.data.gov.uk/id/open-government-licence

In 2024, approximately 10.6 percent of the population was living below the national poverty line in the United States. This reflected a 0.5 percentage point decrease from the previous year. Most recently, poverty levels in the country peaked in 2010 at just over 15 percent. Poverty in the U.S. States The number of people living in poverty in the U.S. as well as poverty rates, vary greatly from state to state. With their large populations, California and Texas led that charts in terms of the size of their impoverished residents. On the other hand, Louisiana had the highest rates of poverty, standing at 20 percent in 2024. The state with the lowest poverty rate was New Hampshire at 5.9 percent. Vulnerable populations The poverty rate in the United States varies widely across different ethnic groups. American Indians and Alaska Natives are the ethnic group with the highest levels of poverty in 2024, with about 19 percent earning an income below the official threshold. In comparison, only about 7.5 percent of the White (non-Hispanic) and Asian populations were living below the poverty line. Children are one of the most poverty endangered population groups in the U.S. between 1990 and 2024. Child poverty peaked in 1993 with 22.7 percent of children living in poverty. Despite fluctuations, in 2024, poverty among minors reached its lowest level in decades, falling to 14.3 percent.

The Federal Poverty Level (FPL) is a measure of poverty issued every year by the US Department of Health and Human Services. The 2022 FPL thresholds for a family of four correspond to annual incomes of $27,750 (100% FPL), $55,500 (200% FPL), and $83,250 (300% FPL).The Federal Poverty Level is used to determine eligibility for certain programs and benefits. Across the US, including in Los Angeles County, children represent the largest age group of individuals experiencing poverty. While poverty exerts negative impacts across the lifespan, childhood poverty is of particular concern. Children living in poverty are not only at higher risk for developmental delays, chronic illness, lead exposure, and food and housing insecurity, but they are also more likely to experience poverty into adulthood, which perpetuates generational cycles of poverty.For more information about the Community Health Profiles Data Initiative, please see the initiative homepage.

The Enhanced Services for the Hard-to-Employ (HtE) Demonstration and Evaluation Project was a 10-year study (taken on by the MDRC) that evaluated innovative strategies aimed at improving employment and other outcomes for groups who faced serious barriers to employment. The Enhanced Services for the Hard-to-Employ is the first comprehensive attempt to understand the diverse low-income population and to test interventions aimed at the most common barriers that are encountered in this population's employment. The HtE demonstration was designed to evaluate a variety of innovative ways to boost employment, reduce welfare receipt, and promote well-being in low-income populations. This study evaluated the effectiveness of the Enhanced Early Head Start (EHS) program on addressing the developmental needs of young children living in poverty by offering enhanced services aimed at proactively addressing the employment and educational needs of their parents. This program included the addition of on-site self-sufficiency specialists to work with program staff and families on topics such as, formalized employment, self-sufficiency services and community partnerships with local employment-focused and educational agencies. The Early Head Start full research sample consists of 610 individuals randomly assigned between August 2004 and December 2006 (305 members in the program group and 305 in the control group). The research team followed the two groups for over three years, using surveys and administrative data. All 610 sample members completed a baseline survey at random assignment, providing basic demographic information, employment and child care history prior to the study. Two follow-up surveys were collected at the 18-month and 42-month mark. At 42-months, respondents who responded to the 18-month survey were asked about child care activities since their earlier survey interview date, while respondents who responded only to the 42-month survey were asked about child care activities since random assignment. Data were collected on receipt of EHS services and assistance programs, TANF history, type and amount of child care used, child immunization records, parenting, child behavior, child social-emotional skills, as well as child reading and math skills. Demographic information includes age, race, marital status, education, source of income, employment status, and public assistance information.

In 2023 the poverty rate in the United States was highest among people between 18 and 24, with a rate of 16 percent for male Americans and a rate of 21 percent for female Americans. The lowest poverty rate for both men and women was for those aged between 45 and 54. What is the poverty line? The poverty line is a metric used by the U.S. Census Bureau to define poverty in the United States. It is a specific income level that is considered to be the bare minimum a person or family needs to meet their basic needs. If a family’s annual pre-tax income is below this income level, then they are considered impoverished. The poverty guideline for a family of four in 2021 was 26,500 U.S. dollars. Living below the poverty line According to the most recent data, almost one-fifth of African Americans in the United States live below the poverty line; the most out of any ethnic group. Additionally, over 7.42 million families in the U.S. live in poverty – a figure that has held mostly steady since 1990, outside the 2008 financial crisis which threw 9.52 million families into poverty by 2012. The poverty gender gap Wage inequality has been an ongoing discussion in U.S. discourse for many years now. The poverty gap for women is most pronounced during their child-bearing years, shrinks, and then grows again in old age. While progress has been made on the gender pay gap over the last 30 years, there are still significant disparities, even in occupations that predominantly employ men. Additionally, women are often having to spend more time attending to child and household duties than men.

VITAL SIGNS INDICATOR
Poverty (EQ5)

FULL MEASURE NAME
The share of the population living in households that earn less than 200 percent of the federal poverty limit

LAST UPDATED
January 2023

DESCRIPTION
Poverty refers to the share of the population living in households that earn less than 200 percent of the federal poverty limit, which varies based on the number of individuals in a given household. It reflects the number of individuals who are economically struggling due to low household income levels.

DATA SOURCE
U.S Census Bureau: Decennial Census - http://www.nhgis.org
1980-2000

U.S. Census Bureau: American Community Survey - https://data.census.gov/
2007-2021
Form C17002

CONTACT INFORMATION
vitalsigns.info@mtc.ca.gov

METHODOLOGY NOTES (across all datasets for this indicator)
The U.S. Census Bureau defines a national poverty level (or household income) that varies by household size, number of children in a household, and age of householder. The national poverty level does not vary geographically even though cost of living is different across the United States. For the Bay Area, where cost of living is high and incomes are correspondingly high, an appropriate poverty level is 200% of poverty or twice the national poverty level, consistent with what was used for past equity work at MTC and ABAG. For comparison, however, both the national and 200% poverty levels are presented.

For Vital Signs, the poverty rate is defined as the number of people (including children) living below twice the poverty level divided by the number of people for whom poverty status is determined. The household income definitions for poverty change each year to reflect inflation. The official poverty definition uses money income before taxes and does not include capital gains or non-cash benefits (such as public housing, Medicaid and food stamps).

For the national poverty level definitions by year, see: US Census Bureau Poverty Thresholds - https://www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/demo/income-poverty/historical-poverty-thresholds.html.

For an explanation on how the Census Bureau measures poverty, see: How the Census Bureau Measures Poverty - https://www.census.gov/topics/income-poverty/poverty/guidance/poverty-measures.html.

American Community Survey (ACS) 1-year data is used for larger geographies – Bay counties and most metropolitan area counties – while smaller geographies rely upon 5-year rolling average data due to their smaller sample sizes. Note that 2020 data uses the 5-year estimates because the ACS did not collect 1-year data for 2020.

To be consistent across metropolitan areas, the poverty definition for non-Bay Area metros is twice the national poverty level. Data were not adjusted for varying income and cost of living levels across the metropolitan areas.

In 2024, **** percent of Black people living in the United States were living below the poverty line, compared to *** percent of white people. That year, the overall poverty rate in the U.S. across all races and ethnicities was **** percent. Poverty in the United States The poverty threshold for a single person in the United States was measured at an annual income of ****** U.S. dollars in 2023. Among families of four, the poverty line increases to ****** U.S. dollars a year. Women and children are more likely to suffer from poverty. This is due to the fact that women are more likely than men to stay at home, to care for children. Furthermore, the gender-based wage gap impacts women's earning potential. Poverty data Despite being one of the wealthiest nations in the world, the United States has some of the highest poverty rates among OECD countries. While, the United States poverty rate has fluctuated since 1990, it has trended downwards since 2014. Similarly, the average median household income in the U.S. has mostly increased over the past decade, except for the covid-19 pandemic period. Among U.S. states, Louisiana had the highest poverty rate, which stood at some ** percent in 2024.

A growing body of research suggests that housing eviction is more common than previously recognized and may play an important role in the reproduction of poverty. The proportion of children affected by housing eviction, however, remains largely unknown. We estimate that 1 in 7 children born in large American cities in 1998–2000 experienced at least one eviction for nonpayment of rent or mortgage between birth and age 15. Rates of eviction were substantial across all cities and demographic groups studied, but children from disadvantaged backgrounds were most likely to experience eviction. Among those born into deep poverty, we estimate that about 1 in 4 were evicted by age 15. Given prior evidence that forced moves have negative consequences for children, we conclude that the high prevalence and social stratification of housing eviction are sufficient to play an important role in the reproduction of poverty and warrant greater policy attention. The 0_readme.txt explains all of the files.

The Poverty Mapping Project: Global Subnational Prevalence of Child Malnutrition data set consists of estimates of the percentage of children with weight-for-age z-scores that are more than two standard deviations below the median of the NCHS/CDC/WHO International Reference Population. Data are reported for the most recent year with subnational information available at the time of development. The data products include a shapefile (vector data) of percentage rates, grids (raster data) of rates (per thousand in order to preserve precision in integer format), the number of children under five (the rate denominator), and the number of underweight children under five (the rate numerator), and a tabular data set of the same and associated data. This data set is produced by the Columbia University Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN). To provide a global subnational map of the prevalence of underweight children that can be used by a wide user community in interdisciplinary studies of health, poverty and the environment.

On average, the income of seventeen year olds in the United Kingdom was higher than that children in any other age group. Between March 2024 and February 2025, children aged six had a weekly income of 4.99 British pounds, while those aged 17 had an income of 23.97 per week. Those figures include the weekly regular pocket money provided to children by parents, as well as income from chores and jobs, and other sources of money.

Children and money worldwide The average amount of pocket money of Japanese children did not exactly follow the correlation observed in this statistic about the United Kingdom. In Japan, kids had more money before they reach the age to enroll in elementary school than during their elementary school studies. There are several ways through which children can save money themselves or with the help of their parents. The most common financial instruments for children between eight and 14 years old in the United States were savings accounts and piggy banks. Child poverty Child poverty is a problem affecting a significant share of the population even in developed economies. For example, 14.4 percent of all children in Germany were at risk of poverty in 2024. Meanwhile, Romania, Montenegro, and Bulgaria were, in 2022, some of the countries with the most children at risk of poverty or social exclusion in Central and Eastern Europe. The probability of children finding themselves in these situations can vary within a country depending on their socioeconomic and ethnic background, the region where they live, or whether they are being raised by a single parent or not.

About the dataset This dataset uses information from the DWP benefit system to provide estimates of children living in poverty for wards in London. In order to be counted in this dataset, a family must have claimed Child Benefit and at least one other household benefit (Universal Credit, tax credits or Housing Benefit) during the year. The numbers are calibrated to the Households Below Average Income (HBAI) dataset used to provide the government's headline poverty statistics. The definition of relative low income is living in a household with equivalised* income before housing costs (BHC) below 60% of contemporary national median income. The income measure includes contributions from earnings, state support and pensions. Further detail on the estimates of dependent children living in relative low income, including alternative geographical breakdowns and additional variables, such as age of children, family type and work status are available from DWP's statistical tabulation tool Stat-Xplore. Minor adjustments to the data have been applied to guard against the identification of individual claimants. This dataset replaced the DWP children in out-of-work benefit households and HMRC children in low income families local measure releases. This dataset includes estimates for all wards in London of numbers of dependent children living in relative low income families for each financial year from 2014/15 to the latest available (2022/23). The figures for the latest year are provisional and are subject to minor revision when the next dataset is released by DWP. Headlines Number of children The number of dependent children living in relative low income across London, rose from below 310,000 in the financial year ending 2015 to over 420,000 in the financial year ending 2020, but has decreased since then to below 350,000, which is well below the number for financial year ending 2018. While many wards in London have followed a similar pattern, the numbers of children in low income families in some wards have fallen more sharply, while the numbers in other wards have continued to grow. Proportion of children in each London ward Ward population sizes vary across London, the age profile of that population also varies and both the size and make-up of the population can change over time, so in order to make more meaningful comparisons between wards or over time, DWP have also published rates, though see note below regarding caution when using these figures. A dependent child is anyone aged under 16; or aged 16 to 19 in full-time non-advanced education or in unwaged government training. Ward level estimates for the total number of dependent children are not available, so percentages cannot be derived. Ward level estimates for the percentage of children under 16 living in low income families are usually published by DWP but, in its latest release, ward-level population estimates were not available at the time, so no rates were published. To derive the rates in this dataset, the GLA has used the ONS's latest ward-level population estimates (official statistics in development). Percentages for 2021/22 are calculated using the 2021 mid year estimates, while percentages for 2022/23 are calculated using the 2022 mid year estimates. As these are official statistics in development, rates therefore need to be treated with some caution. Notes *equivalised income is adjusted for household size and composition in order to compare living standards between households of different types.

The graph shows the changes in the impact factor of ^ and its corresponding percentile for the sake of comparison with the entire literature. Impact Factor is the most common scientometric index, which is defined by the number of citations of papers in two preceding years divided by the number of papers published in those years.

This map is published as Open Data, is the most recent, and replaces any previously published dataset.Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation, Small Area Population Estimates, and Child Poverty The Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation 2020 is the Scottish Government’s official tool for identifying those places in Scotland suffering from deprivation. It incorporates several different aspects of deprivation (employment, income, health, education, skills and training, geographic access, crime and housing), combining them into a single index.The 2020 Index provides a relative ranking for small areas in Scotland, defined by the Scottish Neighbourhood Statistics (SNS) Data Zone 2011 geography, from 1 (most deprived) to 6,976 (least deprived). By identifying small areas where there are concentrations of multiple deprivation, the SIMD can be used to target policies and resources at the places with greatest need. The SIMD also provides a rank for each data zone within each of the seven domains, and therefore it is possible to look at individual aspects of deprivation for each area, as well as the overall level of deprivation.National Records of Scotland Small Area Population Estimates (2021)Child Poverty by Datazone (2022/23)This map is created from the following:dataset: Contentand used in app: App

Constructed Files:
The Rounds 1-5 Constructed Files, 2002-2016 are combined sub-sets of selected variables from Rounds 1-5 of the Young Lives survey. One main constructed data file is available for each of the four countries. These are presented in a panel format and contain approximately 200 original and constructed variables, with the majority comparable across all five rounds. The Stata syntax (.do) files which have been used to create the constructed data files are also included for information.

Latest edition information:
For the fifth edition (September 2022), five additional datasets have been included to add recently calculated Item Response Theory (IRT) scores to create comparative scores for cognitive tests across Rounds and Cohorts in the four Young Lives countries. Cognitive and achievement measures administered and included in these datasets are the Peabody Picture of Vocabulary Test (PPVT), maths achievement and reading comprehension. For more detail on the psychometric analysis carried using IRT, please see the Technical note, Equating Cognitive Scores across Rounds and Cohorts for Young Lives in Ethiopia, India, Peru and Vietnam, included in the study documentation.

This census tract geography dataset was created in 2017 by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. The lead exposure risk index is based on average neighborhood housing age and poverty rate, which are the two most common risk factors for lead poisoning. The index is calculated by combining three different types of U.S. Census demographic data: 1) estimates of the number of housing units built in different time periods, 2) estimates of the overall poverty rate, and 3) estimates of the population of children under age 6. All input data is taken from the U.S. Census American Community Survey’s (ACS) 2011-2015 five-year population estimates for census tracts in Colorado (B17001, B25034, & C17002 data files). The methodology is an adaptation of a method developed by the Washington State Department of Health. More details about this methodology can be found here.

From 2017 to 2021, the share of households living under the poverty line in Venezuela has been surpassing 90 percent. In addition, more than six out of every ten households (67.97 percent) lived in extreme poverty in 2021. The overall household poverty rate in Venezuela has registered a steady growth from 2014 to 2019, after having remained relatively stable, below 40 percent, since 2005. Although poverty is widespread among the population as a whole, some groups are more vulnerable than others. That is the case of younger generations and particularly children: 98.03 percent of Venezuelans aged 15 or younger lived in poverty in 2021. An economy in disarray Venezuela, the country with the largest oil reserves in the world and whose economy has been largely dependent on oil revenues for decades, was once one of the most prosperous countries in Latin America. Today, hyperinflation and an astronomic public debt are only some of the many pressing concerns that affect the domestic economy. The socio-economic consequences of the crisis As a result of the economic recession, more than half of the population in every state in Venezuela lives in extreme poverty. This issue is particularly noteworthy in the states of Amazonas, Monagas, and Falcón, where the extreme poverty rate hovers over 80 percent. Such alarming levels of poverty, together with persistent food shortages, provoked a rapid increase in undernourishment, which was estimated at 17.9 percent between 2020 and 2022. The combination of humanitarian crisis, political turmoil and economic havoc led to the Venezuelan refugee and migrant crisis. As of 2020, more than five million Venezuelans had fled their home country, with neighboring Colombia being the main country of destination.

Relative concentration of the estimated number of people in the Sierra Nevada region that live in a household defined as "low income." There are multiple ways to define low income. These data apply the most common standard: low income population consists of all members of households that collectively have income less than twice the federal poverty threshold that applies to their household type. Household type refers to the household's resident composition: the number of independent adults plus dependents that can be of any age, from children to elderly. For example, a household with four people ' one working adult parent and three dependent children ' has a different poverty threshold than a household comprised of four unrelated independent adults.

Due to high estimate uncertainty for many block group estimates of the number of people living in low income households, some records cannot be reliably assigned a class and class code comparable to those assigned to race/ethnicity data from the decennial Census.

"Relative concentration" is a measure that compares the proportion of population within each Census block group data unit to the proportion of all people that live within the 775 block groups in the Sierra Nevada RRK region. See the "Data Units" description below for how these relative concentrations are broken into categories in this "low income" metric.