Self Inc., a financial technology company, has issued a report showing that 16.4% of Chicago residents live in poverty. The new report from Self looks at poverty rates throughout the United States.
“One of the demographic groups most affected by poverty in the U.S. is children,” noted Mike La Firenza, a spokesperson for Self. “More than 18% of children under five years old were in poverty in 2019, while 16.2% of children aged five-to-17 were in poverty. Poverty also has a strong racial dimension in the United States. White Americans had a 9% poverty rate in 2019, the lowest of any racial or ethnic category. Meanwhile, American Indians (23%) and Black Americans (21.2%) have the highest poverty rates among racial and ethnic groups.
“The most recent poverty data from the U.S. Census Bureau shows that 23.2% of Chicago children—and 20.6% of Chicago minorities—live in poverty,” LaFirenza noted. “Overall, 16.4% of the Chicago population lives in poverty, compared to 12.3% for the U.S. as a whole.”
Self noted that during the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. government has pumped “unprecedented” amounts of financial relief to American households to stave off potential economic disaster. From the expansions of social safety net programs such as unemployment insurance and food stamps to multiple rounds of direct payments, Congress’s multiple relief packages over the last year have helped put many households on better financial footing, Self asserted.
Early analysis of these policies indicates that one of the groups benefiting most from these relief efforts is America’s poor.
Researchers at Self analyzed data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey. Researchers examined poverty rates for all cities with at least 100,000 residents and collected data on both the percentage and number of people living in poverty overall and for children and racial or ethnic minorities.
The analysis found that 23.2% of Chicago children—and 20.6% of Chicago minorities—live in poverty. Overall, 16.4% of the Chicago population lives in poverty, compared to 12.3% for the U.S. as a whole. Here is a summary of the data for Chicago:
- Overall poverty rate: 16.4%
- Child poverty rate: 23.2%
- Minority poverty rate: 20.6%
- Total residents below the poverty level: 432,385
- Total children below the poverty level: 126,988
- Total minority residents below the poverty level: 362,053
For reference, here are the statistics for the entire United States:
- Overall poverty rate: 12.3%
- Child poverty rate: 16.8%
- Minority poverty rate: 17.3%
- Total residents below the poverty level: 39,490,096
- Total children below the poverty level: 12,000,470
- Total minority residents below the poverty level: 22,138,000
For more information, a detailed methodology, and complete results, find the original report on Self’s website: https://www.self.inc/blog/cities-with-the-highest-poverty-rates