User:Sgcoggin/Poverty in the United States

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(I will be adding a section to the Poverty and demographics subheading after the "Poverty among Native Americans" section titled "Poverty and LGBTQ+ status")

Poverty among Native Americans
Poverty is also notoriously high on Native American reservations (see Reservation poverty). 7 of the 11 poorest counties in per capita income (in the 50 states), including the 2 poorest in the 50 states, encompass Lakota Sioux reservations in South Dakota. This fact has been cited by some critics as a mechanism that enables the "kidnapping" of Lakota children by the state of South Dakota's Department of Social Services. The Lakota People's Law Project, among other critics, allege that South Dakota "inappropriately equates economic poverty with neglect ... South Dakota's rate of identifying "neglect" is 18% higher than the national average ... In 2010, the national average of state discernment of neglect, as a percent of total maltreatment of foster children prior to their being taken into custody by the state, was 78.3%. In South Dakota the rate was 95.8%."

Poverty in the Pine Ridge Reservation in particular has had unprecedented effects on its residents' longevity. "Recent reports state the average life expectancy is 45 years old while others state that it is 48 years old for men and 52 years old for women. With either set of figures, that's the shortest life expectancy for any community in the Western Hemisphere outside Haiti, according to The Wall Street Journal."

In the 2013—2017 American Community Survey, Wounded Knee, South Dakota (located in the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation) had the 7th-lowest median household income out of all places in the 50 states/D.C./Puerto Rico.

Poverty and LGBTQ+ status [NEW SECTION]
With data collected from 35 states from 2014-2017, the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) survey shows that 21.6% of the LGBTQ+ population is living in poverty. The number varies depending on identity:

12.1% of cis-gay men

17.9% of cis-lesbian women

19.5% of cis-bisexual men

29.4% of cis-bisexual women

33.7% of transgender men

29.6% of transgender women, and

23.8% of gender nonconforming people.

For comparison, 13.4% of cis-straight men and 17.8% of cis-straight women are living in poverty.

Transgender Poverty
The rate of poverty for the transgender community is larger than any other LGBTQ+ population. The 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey shows that this percentage varies depending on racial identity:

41% American Indian

32% Asian

38% Black

43% Latinx

34% Middle Eastern

40% Multiracial

For comparison, 24% of White transgender people are living in poverty.

The percentage of those living in poverty also increases for transgender people with HIV (51%) and disabilities (45%).