Answer:
Poverty is seen as a standard of living that is below the minimum level considered adequate by society. Some characteristics that affect poverty are age, sex, race, and ethnicity.
The poverty level is defined by the U.S. Bureau of the Census and it is determined by calculating the cost of providing an adequate diet. This number is then multiplied by three, because research has indicated that poor people spend a third of their income on food.
Among racial and ethnic groups, African Americans had the highest poverty rate, 27.4 percent, followed by Hispanics at 26.6 percent and whites at 9.9 percent.
45.8 percent of young black children (under age 6) live in poverty, compared to 14.5 percent of white children.
In 2011, 28.0 percent of workers earned poverty-level wages ($11.06 or less an hour).
Workers earning poverty-level wages are disproportionately female, black, Hispanic, or between the ages of 18 and 25.
