...Census figures (click here) reveal a stark contrast in the percentages of non-Hispanic whites living in poverty as compared to Hispanics and blacks. In 2012, 9.7% of non-Hispanic whites (18.9 million) were living in poverty, while over a quarter of Hispanics (13.6 million), and 27.2% of blacks (10.9 million) were living in poverty.
The figures are more dismal when looking at the rates for deep poverty. Compared to non-Hispanic whites, Hispanics are more than twice as likely to live in deep poverty, and blacks are almost three times more likely to live in deep poverty. In 2012, 12.7% of blacks (almost 5.1 million), 10.1% of Hispanics (almost 5.4 million), and 4.3% (8.4 million) of non-Hispanic whites were living in deep poverty....
...In 2012, over five million more women than men were living below the poverty line; and two million more women than men were living in deep poverty. For women aged 18 to 64, the poverty rate was 15.4%, compared to 11.9% for men of the same age range. At 11%, the poverty rate for women aged 65 and older is almost double that of men aged 65 and older—6.6%.
Families headed by a single adult are more likely to be headed by women, and these female-headed households are at a greater risk of poverty. Almost 31% of households headed by a single woman were living below the poverty line—nearly five times the 6.3% poverty rate for families headed by a married couple. For households headed by a single male, 16.4% were living in poverty....
