Between October 18–21, this website will move to a new web address (from health.gov to odphp.health.gov). During that time, some functions might not work as expected. We appreciate your patience and understanding as we’re working to make this transition as smooth as possible.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion

Reduce the proportion of people living in poverty — SDOH‑01 Data Methodology and Measurement

On this page:  About the National Data  |  Methodology  |  History

About the National Data

Data

Data Source:  Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplement (CPS-ASEC), Census and DOL/BLS

Baseline: 11.8 percent of persons were living below the poverty threshold in 2018

Target: 8.0 percent

Numerator
Number of persons living below the poverty threshold.
Denominator
Number of persons.
Target-setting method
Projection
Target-setting method details
Linear trend fitted using weighted least squares and a projection at the 67 percent prediction interval.
1
Target-setting method justification
Trend data were evaluated for this objective. Using historical data points, a trend line was fitted using weighted least squares and the trend was projected into the next decade. This method was used because three or more comparable data points were available, the projected value was within the range of possible values, and a projection at the 67 percent prediction interval was selected because it was a statistically significant improvement from the baseline. Economic growth contributes to the reduction of poverty in the United States.

Methodology

Questions used to obtain the national baseline data

(For additional information, please visit the data source page linked above.)

From the Current Population Survey (CPS):

Which category represents the total combined income of all members of this FAMILY during the past 12 months?
This includes money from jobs, net income from business, farm or rent, pensions, dividends, interest, social security payments and any other money income received by members of this family who are 15 years of age or older?

  1. Less than $5,000
  2. 5,000 to 7,499
  3. 7,500 to 9,999
  4. 10,000 to 12,499
  5. 12,500 to 14,999
  6. 15,000 to 19,999
  7. 20,000 to 24,999
  8. 25,000 to 29,999
  9. 30,000 to 34,999
  10. 35,000 to 39,99
  11. 40,000 to 49,999
  12. 50,000 to 59,999
  13. 60,000 to 74,999
  14. 75,000 to 99,999
  15. 100,000 to 149,000
  16. 150,000 or more

Methodology notes

The poverty level is based on money income and does not include noncash benefits, such as food stamps. Poverty thresholds reflect family size and composition and are adjusted each year using the annual average Consumer Price Index level. In 2018, the poverty threshold for a two-parent, two-child family was $25,465.

History

Comparable HP2020 objective
Retained, which includes core objectives that are continuing from Healthy People 2020 with no change in measurement.

1. Because Healthy People 2030 objectives have a desired direction (e.g., increase or decrease), the confidence level of a one-sided prediction interval can be used as an indication of how likely a target will be to achieve based on the historical data and fitted trend.