For some Americans, poverty is a persistent situation, but for others, a new job or a marriage provides the means for escape. Unfortunately, those who escape from poverty often are replaced by others who become poor. About one-fourth of all persons who were in poverty in 1984 were not poor in 1985, and just over one-fifth of the poor in 1985 were not in poverty the year before.

Data from the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) provide this glimpse of how the poor population changes from year to year. Unlike the Current Population Survey, SIPP measures the economic well-being of Americans over time, so data are available on changes in status. Details of these year-to-year changes in poverty status are in the report cited at the end of this brief.