Poverty by Age

Families in Poverty
In 2007, as the number of American families overall increased by 3 million, the number in poverty also rose slightly, to 8.1 million, from 7.62 million in 2007. The poverty rate rose to 10.3 percent, or about one family in ten
.
Adults in Poverty
For Americans 18 to 64 years old, the number in poverty rose from 20.4 million persons in 2007, to 22.1 million in 2008. The poverty rate also went up for this group from 18 percent in 2007, to 19 percent.

The number of elderly (persons 65 and older) in poverty increased to 3.7 million in 2008, after 3.6 million in 2007. The poverty rate maintained at 9.7 percent, after it decreased from 10.1 percent in the past two years.

American Children in Poverty
There were over half a million more children in poverty in 2008 than 2007: 14.1 million altogether. The poverty rate for minors—under 18—increased to 19 percent, or more than one in six.

Children are one-fourth (25%) of our population, but in 2008 were again more than a third (36%) of all people in poverty in the United States. The poverty rate for children is far higher than for adults or seniors.

Children under the age of six are particularly vulnerable to poverty. In 2008, the poverty rate for related children under six living in families was again over 20 percent—one child in five.

But the number of small children in poverty increased substantially to 5.3 million children in 2008, from 5.1 million children in 2007.
More than half—53 percent—of all children under six living in families with a female householder (with no husband present) live in poverty. That’s more than five times the rate of their counterparts in married-couple families (11.0 percent).

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Sources:

(U.S. Census Bureau, Income, Poverty and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2007)