The estimates are based in part on data from the Family Income Survey conducted for the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the Department of Labor and Human Resources, Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. The survey was conducted during June, July, and August 2004, and was designed to mimic the Annual Social and Economic Supplement (ASEC) to the Current Population Survey (CPS) conducted in the Mainland United States. Data are available for 1,149 of the 1,345 valid households in the sample. The questionnaire was administered in face-to-face personal interviews. Income questions refer to money income received during 2003 and resemble the questions used in the CPS ASEC in the breadth of income sources for which data are collected.

For further information about the Puerto Rico Family Income Surveys, please contact us.

In light of the manipulations required to derive the estimates for the desired age group and years, we were unable to estimate confidence intervals for the estimates or the difference between the estimates and estimates for previous years.

The estimates for 2001 and 2002 are being released at the same time due to the accelerated release initiative (Accelerated Release). Because direct survey estimates of poverty are not available for these target years, we use estimates from Census 2000 and the 2004 Puerto Rico Family Income Survey. In doing this, we assume a uniform change in poverty for each calendar year between 1999 and 2003. Note that this is not the same method used to estimate the number of related children ages 5-17 in poverty for Puerto Rico in 2000 (Estimates for 2000); the 2003 data were not available at the time the 2000 estimate was made.

We use the following steps to compute the number of related children ages 5 to 17 in poverty.

Start with the Census 2000 estimated number of related children ages 5 to 17 in poverty for 1999 (459,011).

1. Subtract the estimated number of related children ages 5 to 17 in poverty for 2003 (424,914).
2. This signifies the estimated decrease in the number of related children ages 5 to 17 in poverty from 1999 to 2003 (34,097).
3. Dividing this number by 4 creates a linear interpolation of the decrease in poverty for related children ages 5 to 17 per year from 1999 to 2003 (8,524).
4. Subtract this change twice (two years away) from the 1999 estimate. This provides the estimated number of related children ages 5 to 17 in poverty in 2001 (441,963).
5. Subtract the change from step 3 again from the value in step 4. This provides the estimated number of related children ages 5 to 17 in poverty in 2002 (433,438).

Population estimates are available for the Commonwealth as a product of the Population Estimates Program. Specifically, the data came from Table 1: Annual Estimates of the Resident Population by Selected Age Groups and Sex for Puerto Rico: April 1, 2000 to July 1, 2003 (PR-EST2003-01). Release Date: April 13, 2004.

The state, county, and school district estimates for income year 2002 presented on this site were released on an accelerated schedule compared to previous years. The model-based estimates of income and poverty for states, counties, and school districts are now available with only a one-year lag, measured from the release of national estimates from the Annual Social and Economic Supplement (ASEC) of the Current Population Survey (CPS). This accelerated release schedule was the result of a successful effort to acquire input data earlier. Specifically, we acquired the food stamp data used in the county poverty models a year earlier than in previous years, and we now use the first release of demographic population estimates rather than their second (revised) release. For further details, see Estimation Procedure Changes. The SAIPE program will continue to release estimates on this new schedule in future years.