Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World

Read our research on:

Social Trends

  • report

    Re-Counting Poverty

    The November 2011 issuance by the U.S. Census Bureau of a new Supplemental Poverty Measure has rekindled interest in questions that have been raised at various times over the nearly half century since the first official measures were published. This posting explores the perceived flaws of the official poverty measures, as well as the features of the unofficial alternative measure recently unveiled by the Census Bureau and the broader issues raised by the contrast between the two.

  • report

    Cohabiting Couples and Their Money

    Money-sharing by cohabiting couples is the topic of this article, which focuses on the Census Bureau’s new alternative measure of poverty. Cohabiting couples are much less likely to be considered poor under the alternative measure than the official measure of poverty’; the major reason is that the alternative measure assumes such couples share expenses, while the official measure assumes they are separate economic units.

  • report

    Comparing Two Census Measures of Poverty

    The Census Bureau has just published the results from its new alternative measure of poverty, called the Supplemental Poverty Measure, and they differ notably from the poverty rates shown by the official measure that’s been used since the 1960s. A new report by the Pew Hispanic Center compares results under both measures for key demographic groups.

  • report

    The Rising Age Gap in Economic Well-Being

    Households headed by older adults have made dramatic gains relative to those headed by younger adults in their economic well-being over the past quarter of a century.

  • report

    The Generation Gap and the 2012 Election

    In the last four national elections, generational differences have mattered more than they have in decades. According to the exit polls, younger people have voted substantially more Democratic than other age groups in each election since 2004, while older voters have cast more ballots for Republican candidates in each election since 2006.

  • report

    In a Down Economy, Fewer Births

    A sharp decline in fertility rates in the United States that started in 2008 is closely linked to the souring of the economy that began about the same time, according to a new analysis of multiple economic and demographic data sources.