2 Census Reports Find Decrease in Poverty for People with Disabilities, Importance of Food Stamps in General Poverty Prevention

On September 12, 2018 the U.S. Bureau of the Census issued its annual Income and Poverty in the US report for the year 2017. The Census found that:

“For people aged 18 to 64 with a disability, the poverty rate in 2017 was 24.9 percent, down from 26.8 percent in 2016. The number in poverty with a disability was 3.8 million, a decline from 4.1 million in 2016. In 2017, 10.1 percent of people aged 18 to 64 without a disability were in poverty, representing 18.4 million people. Neither the poverty rate nor the number in poverty without a disability showed any statistical change between 2016 and 2017 (Table 3). Among people aged 18 to 64, those with a disability represented 7.6 percent of all people, compared with 16.9 percent of people aged 18 to 64 in poverty.” (Page 16 of the report.)

A separate Census report also released this week, the Supplemental Poverty Measure, finds that the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) lifted 3.4 million individuals out of poverty. It also underscored the importance of the program for people who are “ill or disabled”, with 3.8 million individuals in that category relying on SNAP. ANCOR is sharing this information due to its relevance to people with I/DD, who are counted in these statistics.