Chart: Official poverty rates show declines in elderly poverty but significant disparities remain: Official poverty rates, by age and race, 1968 and 2016 | Economic Policy Institute

Snapshot

Official poverty rates show declines in elderly poverty but significant disparities remain: Official poverty rates, by age and race, 1968 and 2016

Demographic	1968	2016
All	12.8%	12.7%

Under 18	15.6%	18.0%
18–64	9.0%	11.6%
65+	25.0%	9.3%

White	10.0%	8.8%
Black	34.7%	22.0%

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Note: Due to data restrictions racial categories include "white" and "black" in 1968 but "white alone, non-Hispanic" and "black alone" in 2016.

Source: EPI analysis of Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplement data

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Poverty persists 50 years after the Poor People’s Campaign: Black poverty rates are more than twice as high as white poverty rates

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