State of Poverty in the U.S. Webquest
Directions: Fill in the necessary charts and blanks with the numbers and statistics from the
Poverty USA website. Some questions require reflection and explanation.
1.
Poverty Threshold/Family Size
Income Amount
Family of 3
Family of 4
Family of 5
Family of 6
Family of 7
Family of 8
Family of 9+
2. _____ percentage of men are living in poverty.
3. ______ percentage of women are living in poverty.
4. Consider these statistics for a moment: what might be some reasons for these
percentages?
5. _____ percentage of seniors live in poverty.
6. _______ percentage of disabled people are living in poverty.
7. Looking at the statistics for numbers 5+6, what factors might contribute to their poverty?
8. According to the 2018 census, the race most impacted by poverty is
_____________________________.
9. What percentage of the population live in deep poverty? _____
10.How do we define deep poverty?
11.As of 2018, ____________ was the median family income and __________ was the
median non-family income.
12.Define food insecurity.
13._____ percentage of households were food insecure in 2018.
14.Out of food-insecure households, _____% participate in nutritional support programs
(like SNAP) or other programs.
15.What does this percentage tell us about the need for food assistance in the U.S.?
Poverty in Massachusetts
Directions: Using the link to the interactive map of the U.S. click on Massachusetts and answer
the following questions.
1. What is the population of Massachusetts? ___________
2. _____ percentage of people in the state are living in poverty?
3. ___________ and _________ counties have the highest poverty rates in the state.
4. Look at the data collected for Massachusetts and compare and contrast it to the
numbers you analyzed for the U.S. What do you notice about these numbers? Be clear
and specific.
5. Now click on the state of Mississippi, in the very poorest state in the U.S. ______
percentage of people in the state are living in poverty.
6. Look at the data collected for Mississippi and compare and contrast it to the numbers in
Massachusetts. What do you notice about these numbers? Be clear and specific.
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