The federal government currently measures poverty in America using a method originally developed in 1963. Although our country’s economy has changed profoundly during the intervening decades, the criteria used to calculate who is living in poverty have not.

Povertymeasure.org, a special project of Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity, provides a comprehensive look at alternatives to the current poverty measure. This site offers background on the federal poverty measure, commentary, data and analysis on the issue, an overview of proposed Congressional legislation and a look at local efforts to modernize the poverty measure.

The Latest

Commerce Department Announces Development of Supplemental Poverty Measure
The Commerce Department announced plans to develop a Supplemental Poverty Measure to accompany the current official federal poverty measure. Although the supplemental measure will not be used to determine funding or eligibility for government programs, it is expected to help provide a more accurate picture of poverty in America. The supplemental measure will allow for additional factors such as food stamp benefits and the Earned Income Tax Credit, to be considered when estimating a family’s economic security. The new measure will be released in Fall 2011, alongside the official income and poverty measures for 2010. The announcement received nationwide media attention from several news outlets including the New York Times, Washington Post and National Public Radio.

Commentary: To Address Poverty, We Should Add Assets to the Equation
A new commentary by Reid Cramer, director of the Asset Building Program at the New America Foundation, argues that measuring household savings and assets must be a key component of any new poverty measure. According to Cramer, the current poverty measure fails to consider how assets affect a family’s ability to make ends meet. The author suggests that to adequately gauge poverty in America, an updated federal poverty measure must also calculate household savings and assets over time. The commentary is the latest contribution to Spotlight’s ‘Poor Measurement’ series, which has featured experts including Shawn Fremstad of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, Mark Levitan of the New York City Center for Economic Opportunity, and Diana Pearce of the Center for Women’s Welfare at the University of Washington School of Social Work. Click here.

Commentary: New Poverty Measure Should Include a Making-Ends-Meet Calculation
In the latest installment of Spotlight's commentary series on the poverty measure, "Poor Measurement," contributor Annette Case argues for a new poverty measure that calculates not only the number of people living in poverty but how many Americans are able to make ends meet whether or not they fall below the poverty line. Case contends that neither the current official measure, nor the most commonly cited alternative based on the recommendations of the National Academies of Sciences, offer an accurate assessment of how many Americans are making ends meet. Case, who is a policy consultant to the Seattle Foundation’s Strategies to Eliminate Poverty initiative, writes that such an approach would highlight the gap between income poverty and economic security. The author recommends that lawmakers adopt a make-ends-meet measure alongside a revised income poverty measure to develop more effective policies that reduce poverty and increase economic mobility. Click here.

Report Provides State-Level Poverty Rates Using Alternative Measure
A new report from the Center for Law and Social Policy provides a comparison of state poverty rates under the current official federal poverty measure and an alternative measure based on the recommendations of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS). Measure by Measure reveals that under the NAS alternative, poverty rates increased in every state. The report uses data drawn from a Census web tool, which relies on the findings from the Current Population Survey. Click here.

Census Releases New Poverty and Income Data Based on Alternative Measure
Nearly one in six Americans, or 15.8 percent, were living in poverty in 2008, according to new Census Bureau figures calculated using an alternative measure recommended by the National Academy of Science (NAS). These figures are higher than the 13.2 percent calculated under the official federal poverty measure, released in September. The new figures provide data by select demographic characteristics, such as age and race, as well as by region. Click here.