The likelihood of poverty across the American adult life span

This article estimates the likelihood of poverty across the life span (ages 20 to 85) for American adults. These proportions were derived through a set of life tables built on 25 waves of longitudinal data. They represent the first time in the social or behavioral sciences that such figures have been calculated. By age 35 nearly one-third of the U.S. population will have experienced a year in poverty. By age 65 more than half of all Americans will have spent a year below the poverty line, and by age 85, two-thirds. Rather than an isolated event that occurs primarily among what has been labeled the "underclass," the reality is that the majority of Americans will encounter poverty firsthand during adulthood. In addition, the authors analyzed the racial differences in the risk of poverty across the life span. For black Americans who reach age 75, a startling 91 percent will have been touched by the experience of poverty, whereas for white Americans, slightly more than half will have encountered poverty. Implications for the social work profession are discussed.