Report: Poverty isn't permanent

WASHINGTON, March 16 (UPI) -- Living in poverty isn't necessarily a permanent condition, a report released by the U.S. Census Bureau indicates.

From 2004 to 2006, a sample of U.S. residents found 29 percent of the nation's population was in poverty for at least two months of the survey period, but only 3 percent were in poverty for the entire period, the bureau said in a release Wednesday.

The report, "Dynamics of Economic Well-Being: Poverty, 2004-2006," also examined how people fell into poverty, and either climbed out or remained in poverty during the 36-month period.

The report indicated poverty could be persistent, reporting that of the 33 million people who were poor at the start of the period, 23 percent remained poor during the next 34 months. However, 12 million who were poor during calendar year 2004 weren't in poverty in 2006.

The report also found that, for those in poverty for two or more consecutive months from 2004 to 2006, the median length of time was 4 1/2 months.

Most of the people who pulled out of poverty still had incomes not significantly above the poverty level, the report said.

Children younger than 18 tended to stay poor longer than working-age adults ages 18-64. The report said the median length of the poverty spell for the less-than-18 demographic group was 5 1/2 months.

Adults 65 years old and older experienced the longest stays in poverty of any age group, averaging 6.7 months, the report said.

Data were collected by the Survey of Income and Program Participation during the study period from a sample of U.S. households interviewed every four months during the period. The Census Bureau said the estimates in this report do not represent official poverty estimates, which are based on the Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplement.