Friday, July 19, 2002

A story released today by the Associated Press reports that according to recent Census data, more than one-third of families led by single mothers live below the poverty level.

The 1996 welfare overhaul nudged more single moms off public assistance rolls and into jobs. But many women simply entered "working poor" status, leaving them more vulnerable to the economic slowdown that occurred since the census was taken, said researcher William O'Hare of the Annie E. Casey Foundation, a children's advocacy group.

The census showed 34 percent of households led by a single mother with a child under 18 lived in poverty in 1999, an improvement from 42 percent in 1989. The Census Bureau asks about a person's economic status in the calendar year before forms are distributed.

For all families, poverty rates improved from 10 percent to 9 percent, while the rate for all residents improved from 13 percent to 12 percent, the census found.

"But the question is whether these lower rates are sustainable,'' said Jill Miller of the advocacy group Women Work!, which coordinates job training and education programs. "Our concern is that we see women who work two or three jobs who managed to get themselves out of poverty, but at a very high cost.''

Poverty levels differ according to a household's makeup. For instance, in 1999, the poverty threshold for a family of five, including four children, was $19,578. The threshold for a three-person household with one child was $13,410.

Poverty rates for households led by single mothers improved throughout the country except for the District of Columbia, where it worsened slightly, and Hawaii, where it remained relatively unchanged.

States in the South and more rural states tended to have higher percentages of single mothers in poverty. By county, urban counties like Los Angeles County and Cook County, Ill. had the greatest number of single mother-led homes.