Library Guides: Poverty Studies: Primary Sources

U.S. Statistics

Statistics resources leverage the practice or science of collecting and analyzing numerical data in large quantities, especially for the purpose of inferring proportions in a whole from those in a representative sample, and using this data to drive policy and procedure.

Social Trends and Indicators USA This link opens in a new window
Provides in-depth statistics on social issues with expert analyses. Data is drawn from Federal agencies, newspapers and stock exchanges.

The Measure of America

The Measure of America by Sarah Burd-Sharps; William H. Draper (Foreword by); Kristen Lewis; Eduardo Borges Martins; William H. Draper (Foreword by); Amartyá Sen (Foreword by)
Call Number: HN 59.2 .B865 2008
ISBN: 9780231154949
Publication Date: 2008-06-27
The Measure of America introduces the American Human Development Index, which provides a single measure of well-being for all Americans, disaggregated by state and congressional district, as well as by gender, race, and ethnicity.

The U.S. Census Bureau

This section within the Census Bureau's Web site bring together data sources, publications, links to other source, and much more. The Publications area might be a good place to begin. The most current estimates of selected income and poverty statistics can be found in the Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates section. You can find the most recent data in several subject areas, including poverty and income, in the American Factfinder and American Community Survey sections of the site. Another useful area is Dynamics of Economic Well-Being.

U.S. Census Bureau
Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates
The most current estimates of selected income and poverty statistics can be found in the Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates section.

Census Data This link opens in a new window
This section within the Census Bureau's Web site bring together data sources, publications, links to other source, and much more. The Publications area might be a good place to begin.

American Community Survey
This section within the Census Bureau's Web site bring together data sources, publications, links to other source, and much more. The Publications area might be a good place to begin.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

The Poverty Guidelines, Research, and Measurement site contains data on guidelines and other measures, as well as links to other important research sites. Be sure to look at the "Are You Looking For.." section at the bottom of the page.

Poverty Guidelines Research and Measurement
Research data curated by the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation.

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Each year the Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes A Profile of the Working Poor. The Bureau of Labor Statistics also maintains data on wages, earning, and benefits, while coordinating other data with the Census Bureau's "Current Population Survey."

Overview of BLS Statistics on Pay and Benefits
BLS publishes a large amount of information on the wages, earnings, and benefits of workers.

U.S. House Ways and Means Committee

This committee periodically publishes Background Material and Data on Programs Within the Jurisdiction of the Committee on Ways and Means, more popularly known as the Green Book.

The Green Book
a unique collection of information on such program areas as Medicare, social security, unemployment compensation, child care, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, and more.

U.S. Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service

The Economic Research Service includes the Rural Income, Poverty, and Welfare "briefing room" (a very useful collection of links to poverty data on farms, rural areas, and more) and the Food and Nutrition Assistance area (with publications on child nutrition, hunger, WIC, and more). Another branch of the Department of Energy with relevant information is the Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion.

Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion
The USDA Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion works to improve the health and well-being of Americans by developing and promoting dietary guidance that links scientific research to the nutrition needs of consumers.

U.S. Federal Government Oversight

A few Federal agencies, such as the Congressional Budget Office and the General Accountancy Office, study the performance of government programs and proposals, in the process conducting original research on issues such as poverty.

National Center for Children in Poverty
A research and advocacy center at Columbia University, this site contains several excellent resources for finding data and generating tables on one or more states' policies in a range of subject areas, such as food stamps and Head Start.

Annie E. Casey Foundation

Annually-updated, the Kids Count database "profiles the well-being of America’s children on a state-by-state basis and ranks states on 10 key measures of child well-being."

Statista This link opens in a new window
Provides access to statistics and studies gathered by market researchers, trade organizations, scientific publications, and government sources on over 600 industries.

Kids Count (Database)
KIDS COUNT is a project of the Annie E. Casey Foundation and a premier source of data on children and families. Each year, the Foundation produces a comprehensive report — the KIDS COUNT Data Book — that assesses child well-being in the United States. The indicators featured in the Data Book are also available in the Data Center.

International Statistics

The State of the World's Children (2009)
The statistical tables display economic and social statistics on the countries and territories of the world with particular reference to children's well being.
World Bank
The World Bank's PovertyNet provides "in-depth information on poverty measurement, monitoring, analysis, and on poverty reduction strategies."

Organizations

Professional organizations, whether profit or non-profit, and governmental organizations are an excellent resource for topic-focused documents and reports.

Economic Research Center, United States Department of Agriculture (ERC)
This site provides excellent snap shots of life in rural America in briefing papers under the following topics: High-poverty counties, Rural income, Rural poverty, Rural child poverty, Rural welfare, and Non-farm earnings.
Institute for Research on Poverty
IRP is a center for interdisciplinary research into the causes and consequences of poverty and social inequality in the United States. As one of three Area Poverty Research Centers sponsored by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, it has a particular interest in poverty and family welfare in the Midwest.
Joint Center for Poverty Research
With offices at both Northwestern University and the University of Chicago, the Joint Center for Poverty Research supports academic research that examines what it means to be poor and live in America. JCPR concentrates on the causes and consequences of poverty in America and the effectiveness of policies aimed at reducing poverty. Its goal is to advance what is known about the economic, social and behavioral factors that cause poverty, and to establish the actual effects of interventions designed to alleviate poverty.
National Poverty Center (NPC)
The National Poverty Center (NPC) was established in the fall of 2002 as a university-based, nonpartisan research center. It conducts and promotes multidisciplinary, policy-relevant research on the causes and consequences of poverty and provides mentoring and training to young scholars. The Center is located within the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, University of Michigan.
Rural Policy Research Institute (RPRI)
RUPRI conducts policy-relevant research to assist policy makers and citizens in understanding the unique rural impacts of public policies and programs. RUPRI is a publicly grant-funded research institute. Major support comes from the Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Additional support comes from the founding member institutions - Iowa State University, the University of Missouri System and the University of Nebraska Central Administration.
Rural Poverty Research Center (RPRC)
The RPRC was founded in 2002 with the awarding of a three-year grant from the US Department of Health & Human Services’ Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning & Evaluation (ASPE). Housed jointly at the University of Missouri-Columbia and Oregon State University, RPRC is part of the Rural Policy Research Institute (RUPRI). The mission of RPCR is to examine both the causes and consequences of poverty in rural areas and the factors affecting the success of policies to improve the self-sufficiency and well-being of low income workers and families in rural America.
Stanford Center for the Study of Poverty and Inequality
The Stanford Center for the Study of Poverty and Inequality has five objectives: to monitor trends in poverty and inequality, to support scientific analysis of poverty and inequality, to develop science-based policy on poverty and inequality, to disseminate data and research on poverty and inequality, and to train the next generation of scholars, policy analysts, and politicians.
West Coast Poverty Center (WCPC)
The West Coast Poverty Center at the University of Washington serves as a hub for research, education, and policy analysis leading to greater understanding of the causes and consequences of poverty and effective approaches to reducing it in the west coast states. Funded in October of 2005, the Center is the newest of three regional poverty centers funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation. A collaborative venture of the UW School of Social Work, the Daniel J. Evans School of Public Affairs, and the College of Arts and Sciences, the West Coast Poverty Center creates new opportunities for cross-disciplinary exchanges and collaboration among poverty researchers and fosters a network of poverty scholars in the west coast region.
University of Kentucky Center for Poverty Research (UKCPR)
The UKCPR was established in October 2002 as one of three federally designated Area Poverty Research Centers with core funding from ASPE. The UKCPR is a nonprofit and nonpartisan academic research center housed in the Department of Economics at the University of Kentucky. The Center’s research mission is to approach to the causes, consequences, and correlates of poverty and inequality in the southern United States with a multidisciplinary perspective.

Multimedia Resources

These resources aid in locating images of works of art or other artifacts, films, scores, and records of artistic or musical performances.

Faces of Poverty: Life at the Breaking Point

What is Poverty? - Compassion International

Welcome To The World - Why Poverty?

Inside Out - Poverty skyrockets in US immigrant communities

Poverty and Human Dignity

2014 State of Black America - 50 Years After the War on Poverty

How Poverty is Measured in the United States

Bill Moyers and Peter Edelman on Fighting Poverty

LBJ State of Union War on Poverty

Marian Wright Edelman: 2015 Poverty Report

Poverty rates surge in American suburbs

Kanopy
Kanopy is an on-demand streaming video service for educational institutions that works directly with filmmakers and film distribution companies to offer thousands of award-winning documentaries, training films and theatrical releases across diverse subjects and disciplines. Includes Latin American content.

Poverty Studies

Africana Studies & Education Librarian