Uses federal survey data to examine U.S. population with inadequate income for less than one year. Reports long-term and persistent poor are more likely to be aged, Black, and disabled. Welfare programs may not target groups comprising the short-term poor, leading to inadequate services. (DHP)

Discusses characteristics of counties with high poverty rates--sparser population, larger proportion of poor and most poverty-prone populations, less educated population, greater reliance on transfer payments, and higher proportions of income from farming. Suggests that government assistance in the form of income transfers could help alleviate…