Indicator HH.3.d Proportion living below the poverty level

HH.3.d Proportion living below the poverty level

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Data Source

U.S. Census 2000, Geolytics software. Census variables used: ‘Proportion of total persons below the poverty level last year' (POVRAT0). Summary File 3, Table P87.

Map, table, and graphic created by San Francisco Department of Public Health, Environmental Health Section using ArcGIS software.

Map data is presented at the level of the census tract. The map also includes planning neighborhood names, in the vicinity of their corresponding census tracts.

Table data is presented by planning neighborhood. Planning neighborhoods are larger geographic areas then census tracts. SF DPH used ArcGIS software and a 'centroids within' methodology to convert census tracts to geographic mean center points. We then assigned census tracts to planning neighborhoods based on the spatial location of those geographic mean center points and calculated the planning neighborhood totals for the table.

Detailed information regarding census data, geographic units of analysis, their definitions, and their boundaries can be found in the HDMT at the following links:

http://www.thehdmt.org/etc/Geographic_Units_of_Analysis.pdf

http://www.thehdmt.org/data_map_methods.php

Explanation and Limitations

The poverty level is determined by the U.S. Census Bureau. Poverty is measured by using 48 thresholds that vary by family size, number of children within the family and age of the householder. The U.S. Census Bureau defines poverty as follows: If the total income of a person's family is less than the threshold appropriate for that family, then the person is considered poor, together with every member of his or her family. If a person is not living with anyone related by birth, marriage, or adoption, then the person"s own income is compared with his or her poverty threshold.

The equation used to determine percent below the poverty level is: Neighborhood Poverty = Total persons below the poverty level last year / Total population with poverty status determined.

Why is this a Community Health Indicator?

Segregated neighborhoods create conditions adverse to health in a number of ways. As places, these neighborhoods typically have fewer assets and resources such as schools, libraries, and public transportation.a Segregated low-income neighborhoods host unwanted land uses such as power plants, solid and hazardous waste sites, and bus yards.b Freeways and other busy roadways often run through low-income neighborhoods resulting in disproportionately higher exposure to noise and air pollution. Residents are often isolated from economic opportunities and marginalized in political decision-making, limiting their ability to effect change in their circumstances.c d The attributes of segregated neighborhoods have profound and diverse impacts on health.e f g Residents of high-poverty neighborhoods live about eight fewer years than non-poverty neighborhoods; they also suffer more preventable events like infant mortality, pedestrian injuries, and homicide. Research also demonstrates a relationship between residential segregation and teenage childbearing, tuberculosis, cardiovascular disease, availability of food establishments serving healthy foods, and exposure to toxic air pollutants.h

A Housing and Urban Development (HUD) study has shown that when adults move to less segregated, higher income communities, they experience significant gains in mental health. Their levels of psychological distress and depression become substantially reduced.i

Among children of families in the HUD study who were moved to less segregated, higher income communities, girls have experienced marked improvements in psychological well-being, reporting lower rates of psychological distress, depression, and generalized anxiety disorder, and improved perceptions of their likelihood of going to college and getting a well paid, stable job as an adult. These girls' behaviors changed as well, with a larger group remaining in school instead of dropping out to work. In addition, they were less likely to engage in risky behavior, or use marijuana.j

  1. Kawachi I, Berkman LF. Neighborhoods and Health. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003.

  2. Maantay J. Zoning, equity, and public health. Am J of Pub Health. 2001;91:1033-1041.

  3. Wilson WJ. The Truly Disadvantaged: The Inner City, the Underclass, and Public Policy. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1987.

  4. Bullard RD. Dumping in Dixie: Race, class, and environmental quality. Boulder: Westview, 1990.

  5. Sampson RJ, Raudenbush SW, Earls F. Neighborhoods and violent crime: a multilevel study of collective efficacy. Science. 1997;277:918-924.

  6. Schulz AJ, Williams DR, Israel BA, Lempert LB. Racial and spatial relations as fundamental determinants of health in Detroit. The Milbank Quarterly. 2002; 80:677-707.

  7. Williams DR, Collins C. Racial residential segregation: a fundamental cause of racial disparities in health. Public Health Reports. 2001;116:404-416.

  8. Acevedo-Garcia D, Lochner KA, Osypuk TL, Subramanian SV. Future Directions in Residential Segregation and Health Research: A Multilevel Approach. Am J of Pub Health. 2003;93:215-221.

  9. U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Moving to Opportunity for Fair Housing Demonstration Program: Interim Impacts Evaluation. 2003 (www.huduser.org)

  10. U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Moving to Opportunity for Fair Housing Demonstration Program: Interim Impacts Evaluation. 2003 (www.huduser.org)