Even more amazing is that three out of 10 of the lowest income earners in 1975 moved up into the top fifth of income earners by 1991. Poverty is largely a transitory experience for people who are willing to work, as Labor Department data confirms. In the early '90s, the median duration of poverty was 4.2 months. Only a third of the 36 million Americans the Bureau of Census classifies as poor had been below the poverty line for 24 or more months. This boils down to a long-term poverty rate of 4 percent, compared to the overall official rate of 13.3 percent in 1997.
Blacks still earn less than whites, but black income rose as well.
In 1998, the overall poverty rate for blacks fell to 26.5 percent, the lowest it has ever been. Cox and Alm give a mixed story for Hispanics. Although many Hispanic families are making it up the economic ladder, the group's overall income hasn't kept pace with blacks or whites. And knowing where a person starts out in life does not control where he ends up.