Trends in Deep Poverty: The Influence of Family Structure, Employment Patterns, and the Safety Net

This paper examines the changing face of deep poverty in the United States from 1968 to 2011 and the role of family structure, employment patterns, and governmental taxes and transfers in explaining these trends. Using a newly developed historical measure of poverty based on the Census Bureau's supplemental poverty measure, we find that deep poverty rates have been fairly constant over the past fifty years, both overall and for families with children. In view of changes in family structure and government policy over this period, the intransigence of deep poverty is surprising. However, this overall stability obscures changes in the demographics of individuals and families in deep poverty, as well as the role of government policy. Governmental transfers reduce the risk of deep poverty for all subgroups examined, but the significance and the role of these programs have changed over time.