lived in poverty would be required to work the equiv-
alent of two full-time jobs in order to overcome pov-
erty. Women were more likely to live in poverty than
were men, with single mothers with children experi-
encing higher poverty rates. Childhood morality
and disability rates were higher among children
living in poverty than among their middle- or upper-
class counterparts. African Americans and Hispan-
ics were more likely to live in poverty than were
Caucasians.
Impact The debate over how to address poverty
expanded throughout the decade to include topics
such as basic human rights, the encouragement of
self-reliance, the elimination of disability and dis-
crimination in the workplace, and money flow into
poverty-stricken households. Despite efforts to
fight poverty, more than 3.6 million Canadians and
32.8 million Americans lived in poverty by the late
1990’s. In both countries, higher-wage earners
owned more wealth than those who lived at or be-
low the poverty lines. The economic distance be-
tween the “haves” and “have-nots” grew. Canada
narrowed the distance between these two groups,
however, by creating a tax-transfer system that off-
set and stabilized the redistribution of income,
while the United States experienced rising inequal-
ity between the groups.
Further Reading
Casper, Lynne M., Sara S. McLanahan, and Irwin
Garfinkel. “The Gender-Poverty Gap: What We
Can Learn from Other Countries.”American Socio-
logical Review59, no. 4 (1994): 594-605. Examines
eight industrialized countries’ poverty rates and
the factors affecting rates between men and
women.
Myles, John. “How to Design a ‘Liberal’ Welfare
State: A Comparison of Canada and the United
States.”Social Policy and Administration32, no. 4
(1998): 341-364. Aims to show how differences in
the two otherwise “liberal” welfare systems have
generated substantially different patterns of wel-
fare state retrenchment and distributive out-
comes since the 1970’s.
Osberg, Lars. “Poverty in Canada and the United
States: Measurement, Trends, and Implications.”
The Canadian Journal of Economics33, no. 4 (2000):
847-877. Explains why Canadian economic, so-
cial, education, and health care policies remain
distinct from U.S. policies.
Dwight VickSee also Business and the economy in Canada;
Business and the economy in the United States;
Clinton, Bill; Employment in Canada; Employment
in the United States; Health care reform; Income684 Poverty The Nineties in America
Number of U.S. Families Below the Poverty Level and Poverty Rate, 1990-1999YearNumber of Poor
Families (in millions)Poverty Rate
for FamiliesNumber of Poor Families with Female
(NSP)* Householder (in millions)Poverty Rate for Families
with Female Householder
1990 7.1 10.7 3.8 33.4
1991 7.7 11.5 4.2 35.6
1992 8.1 11.9 4.3 35.4
1993 8.4 12.3 4.4 35.6
1994 8.0 11.6 4.2 34.6
1995 7.5 10.8 4.1 32.4
1996 7.7 11.0 4.2 32.6
1997 7.3 10.3 4.0 31.6
1998 7.2 10.0 3.8 29.9
1999 6.8 9.3 3.6 27.8*No spouse present.
Source:U.S. Census Bureau, Housing and Household Economic Statistics Division.