The Flawed U.S. Poverty Measure

by Greg Plotkin · 2009-10-24 09:00:00 UTC
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New data released recently by the Census Bureau highlights a gigantic problem many Americans are already painfully aware of: the way the U.S. government measures poverty is extremely flawed.

Because official poverty estimates do not take into account factors like rising medical care, transportation, child care or geographical variations in living costs, the Census Bureau publishes alternative data using a poverty measure developed by the National Academy of Sciences.

This new data shows that there are 7 million more Americans living in poverty than initially reported by the agency last month, and brings the total poverty rate in the U.S. to nearly 16 percent.  What I found most shocking is that the original Census Bureau figures failed to capture half of all elderly living in poverty (official estimate was 9.7 percent, but the new figures show 18.7 percent of persons 65+ currently live in poverty).

Apparently the government has been tossing around the idea of updating its official poverty gauge (which by the way, was developed way back in 1955 and has not been updated since 1964) for awhile now.  My question is, what's the f'ing hold up?

Our outdated poverty measure not only fails to take into consideration significant economic factors like regional cost of living, but it also fails to capture millions of Americans who are in need of aid but not officially classified as being impoverished.

I would think that one of the most important factors in helping to alleviate poverty is actually knowing how many people fit that classification.  As New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg (an advocate for an updated poverty measure) has said, "If you can't measure it, you can't manage it."

It's pretty clear the the federal government is not doing a good job of addressing the root causes of poverty in America.  Perhaps it's because they're wasting precious resources on analyzing, presenting and distributing the same data in two ways (one they KNOW isn't even accurate).  Just saying...

(Photo credit: pedrosimoes7 on Flickr)

Greg Plotkin currently works for Flying Pigs Farm in Shushan, NY. He is dedicated to eliminating inequalities in who has access to healthy food and alleviating hunger.
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