Revised and corrected estimates of poverty and median household income for 2003 from the Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates (SAIPE) program were released on October 2, 2006. The release includes revisions to estimates of the number of school-age children in poverty for school districts. The SAIPE program data are used as input to the Department of Education's annual Title I allocations as part of the No Child Left Behind Act.

The SAIPE program uses a number of data sources as input to its statistical models. One source is the Annual Social and Economic Supplement to the Current Population Survey (ASEC). Another source is federal tax information.

The 2005 ASEC data used for the 2003 SAIPE estimates were originally released in August 2005, but were adjusted after an internal review of the original ASEC sample weights. The revised ASEC data were released in August 2006, and an announcement was made at that time.

The decision to revise and re-issue the SAIPE program's estimates was largely driven by the need to revise the ASEC data. However, we used the opportunity to also revise for other changes. First, Census Bureau statisticians looked at how the SAIPE program used the 2003 federal tax information. Second, updates were made in some of the definitions used in the processing of the ASEC poverty and income data.

New SAIPE estimates for 2004 will be released in November 2006.

For further information, please contact us.