Pathways Past Poverty
Poverty versus Self Sufficiency– The poverty level varies by family size, but for a three-person family, such as a single mother raising two children, the poverty level for 2006 was set at $16,000. That’s indexed for inflation each year, so it’s up a bit in 2007. This same three-person family needs more than $44,000 in income to meet the current self-sufficiency standards in Larimer County.
Recent Data and Statistics on Poverty*:
- In Fort Collins in 2006, 25,603 residents lived in poverty, up from 15,835 in 2000, a 62% increase. In Larimer County outside of Fort Collins, we saw a 37% increase up to 9,280 people.
- In Fort Collins, 19.2% of all children younger than 18 lived below the poverty rate in 2006 (5,159 children). This number is an increase of 132% since the 2000 cencus. In the rest of Larimer County, outside of Fort Collins, the childhood poverty rate increased 38%, up to more than 2800.
- One area where the poverty problem is growing more in Larimer County outside of Fort Collins is seniors living in poverty. Since 2000, the number of seniors in Larimer outside Fort Collins living in poverty increased by 138 percent. The senior poverty rate in our area remains below the national rates but the trend is not good.
- Many people view poverty as a problem that primarily impacts minorities. While it’s true that Hispanics are disproportionately represented in poverty, the face of poverty in our county is overwhelmingly white. Throughout Larimer County, three of every four people living in poverty are white.
- Last year, an average of 744 Larimer County families received benefits from the Temporary Assistance to Needy families program, a 77% increase since 2000 and a growth rate 2.5 times higher than the state average.
- According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics which tracks income trends, in 2005 Larimer County residents received more than $13.5 million in food stamp payments, a 141% increase since 2000 even after taking inflation into account.
*This data comes primarily from the Census Bureau’s 2006 American Community Survey (unless otherwise noted) and, where appropriate, include comparisons from the 2000 census. One limitation is that the census only has specific ACS data for cities and counties of more than 65,000 people.
View a PDF of a PowerPoint outlining the Most Recent Statistics on poverty, by Bob Moore, the Executive Editor for the Fort Collins Coloradoan.