Reply #104: I am not sure what you are talking about [View All]

According to the Census bureau in 1999 there were 25 million people over the age of 15 who made less than $5,000 and another 26 million with income between $5 and $10,000. Of those 51 million people, only 16 million of them were in the 15-24 age bracket. The poverty threshold in 1999 for two people was $11,214, for 3 - $13,290, and for 4 - $17,029. I have no data for AFDC payments. Taking the total spent on TANF in 1999 divided by the number of families getting it, gives me an average of $10,177. So if TANF is the only source of income, at least recorded, then it is not sufficient to put even a family of two over the poverty line.

However, if you could look at the people getting not only TANF, but as seems likely, also section 8 housing, and food stamps and medicaid, then they are certainly over the poverty line, BUT, that is not how poverty is measured.