The poverty rate of Hispanic persons declined during the recovery period to 26.2 percent in 1989 but rose to 29.3 percent in 1992, following the most recent recessionary period. A somewhat similar pattern occurred among non-Hispanic persons. In 1982, 14.0 percent of non-Hispanics were living below the poverty level. That proportion declined to 11.6 percent in 1989 and rose to 13.1 percent in 1992, which is not statistically different from 1982. Among non-Hispanic Whites, the poverty rate was 9.6 percent in 1992.
Hispanic children are more likely to live below the poverty level.
Hispanic children were more likely than non-Hispanic White children to be living below the poverty level. In 1992, about 39.9 percent of Hispanic children under 18 years old were living in poverty, compared with only 13.2 percent of non-Hispanic White children. Hispanic children represented 11.7 percent of all children living in the United States but were 21.3 percent of all children in poverty in 1992. 1 Persons of Hispanic origin may be of any race. These data do not include the population of Puerto Rico.