Poverty - Experimental Measures
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Poverty Measurement Research Using the Consumer Expenditure Survey and the Survey of Income and Program Participation: Tables
Table 1. Poverty Thresholds for Two Adults and Two Children
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Year Official Experimental Experimental
CEX updates
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1991 $13,812 $13,891 $13,891
1992 14,228 14,309 14,349
1993 14,654 14,738 14,936
1994 15,029 15,115 15,211
1995 15,455 15,543 15,561
1996 15,911 16,002 15,743
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Table 2: Percent of Persons with Positive Family Amounts and Mean Annual Amounts: 1991
All persons Poor persons
Percent with Mean Amounts Percent with Mean Amounts
Positive Amounts ($) Positive Amounts ($)
(%) (%)
SIPP CPS SIPP CPS SIPP CPS SIPP CPS
Food Stamps
All persons 234 190 1549 1089
With positive amounts 12.0 9.9 1,951 1,909 62.2 49.4 2489 2204
School Lunchs
All persons 92 98 345 316
With positive amounts 39.6 32.3 232 302 59.9 48.9 575 646
School Breakfasts
All persons 17 NA 93 NA
With positive amounts 9.8 NA 175 NA 36.8 NA 252 NA
Housing Subsidies
All persons 136 86 895 482
With positive amounts 4.5 4.3 2,993 1,992 24.3 20.1 3675 2395
Energy Assistance
All persons 16 NA 85 NA
With positive amounts 5.7 NA 278 NA 28.3 NA 301 NA
Women, Infants and Children
All persons 21 NA 94 NA
With positive amounts 5.6 NA 382 NA 20.9 NA 449 NA
Child Care
All persons 640 662 374 418
With positive amounts 26.3 30.0 2,438 2,204 14.7 22.0 2551 1898
Work-Related Expenses
All persons 963 966 337 327
With positive amounts 79.9 84.5 1,205 1,144 41.3 54.9 817 595
Child Support Paid
All persons 100 NA 11 NA
With positive amounts 3.1 NA 3,286 NA 0.5 NA 2141 NA
Medical Out-of-Pocket Expenses
All persons 2,193 2,146 1389 1233
With positive amounts 94.5 94.0 2,321 2,283 79.3 78.9 1751 1561
Federal Income Taxes
All persons NA 4,510 NA 13
With positive amounts NA 76.1 NA 5,925 NA 4.4 NA 289
Social Security Taxes
All persons NA 2,355 NA 294
With positive amounts NA 81.4 NA 2,893 NA 53.6 NA 548
Earned Income Tax Credit
All persons NA 106 NA 331
With positive amounts NA 14.4 NA 735 NA 37.5 NA 884
NA Not available.
Table 3. Benchmark Totals Used for Medical Out-of-Pocket Imputations
(In Billions of Dollars)
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Non- Medicare
Year Totals Elderly Elderly Part B
Premiums
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1991 204.3 45.8 149.2 9.3
1992 219.4 49.2 160.2 10.0
1993 232.4 52.1 169.7 10.6
1994 243.5 54.6 177.8 11.1
1995 254.5 57.1 185.8 11.6
1996 263.4 59.1 192.3 12.0
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Table 4. Poverty Rates: 1991 (percent poor)
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Official Definition
Using
CPS1 SIPP
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
All persons 14.2 12.1
Children 21.8 19.6
Elderly 12.4 9.0
White 11.3 9.3
Black 32.7 29.0
Hispanic origin2 28.7 27.6
One or more worker 9.3 6.6
Persons in family of type:
Married couple 7.2 6.3
Female Househo 39.7 35.5
Geographic regions:
Northeast 12.2 11.7
Midwest 13.2 9.1
South 16.1 15.1
West 14.3 11.2
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/1 Official poverty rates.
/2 Persons of Hispanic origin may be of any race.
Table 5. Poverty Rates: 1991 (percent poor)
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NAS Panel - Recommended
Experimental Measures
Using
CPS SIPP
______________________________________________________________________________
All persons 18.9 13.6
Children 26.4 18.9
Elderly 20.3 14.5
White 16.1 11.5
Black 36.7 26.8
Hispanic origin1 40.0 29.5
One or more worker 14.3 9.0
Persons in family of type:
Married couple 11.9 8.8
Female Househo 45.0 33.6
Geographic regions:
Northeast 17.7 13.6
Midwest 16.6 10.0
South 19.9 16.1
West 20.9 13.9
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/1 Persons of Hispanic origin may be of any race.
Table 6. Poverty Rates: 1991 (percent poor)
Official NAS Experimental Measures
Measure Standardized to CPS
Official Rate1
CPS CPS SIPP
All persons 14.2 14.2 14.2
Children 21.8 19.9 20.0
Elderly 12.4 14.9 15.3
White 11.3 12.1 12.0
Black 32.7 27.4 28.4
Hispanic origin2 28.7 30.6 30.8
One or more worker 9.3 10.4 9.6
Persons in family of type:
Married couple 7.2 8.3 9.3
Female Househo 39.7 35.7 35.2
Geographic regions:
Northeast 12.2 13.4 14.0
Midwest 13.2 12.3 10.6
South 16.1 14.8 17.0
West 14.3 16.2 14.6
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/1 Controlled to the 1991 CPS official poverty rate of 14.2 percent.
/2 Persons of Hispanic origin may be of any race.
Table 7. Distribution of the Population: 1991 (percent)
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Total Population Poverty Population
Official Measure NAS Experimental Measure
(Standardized)2
CPS SIPP CPS1 SIPP CPS SIPP
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All 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Children 26.2 26.9 40.2 43.9 36.8 37.7
Elderly 12.2 11.5 10.6 8.6 12.8 12.4
White 83.7 83.3 66.5 64.2 71.2 70.3
Black 12.5 12.5 28.7 30.1 24.1 24.9
Hispanic origin3 8.8 9.3 17.8 21.2 18.9 20.0
One or more worker 84.5 82.0 54.9 45.1 61.7 55.2
Persons in family of type:
Married couple 79.7 80.3 44.8 44.7 50.6 54.2
Female Househol 16.4 16.6 50.9 52.2 44.4 42.4
Geographic regions:
Northeast 20.2 20.5 17.3 19.9 19.0 20.2
Midwest 24.0 25.6 22.4 19.4 20.8 19.0
South 34.2 32.6 38.6 40.8 35.7 38.9
West 21.6 21.3 21.7 19.8 24.6 21.8
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/1 Official poverty rates.
/2 Controlled to the 1991 CPS official poverty rate of 14.2 percent.
/3 Persons of Hispanic origin may be of any race.
Table 8. Poverty Rates 1991 to 1996: CPS (percent poor)
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1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Official Measure NAS Experimental
All persons 14.2 14.8 15.1 14.6 13.8 13.7 All persons 18.9 19.6 20.2 19.0 18.2 18.0
Children 21.8 22.4 22.7 21.8 20.8 20.5 Children 26.4 26.8 27.5 25.3 24.3 23.8
Nonelderly adults 11.4 11.9 12.4 11.9 11.4 11.4 Nonelderly adul 15.4 16.0 16.8 15.8 15.2 15.0
Elderly 12.4 12.9 12.2 11.7 10.5 10.8 Elderly 20.3 21.8 21.8 21.0 19.7 20.4
White 11.3 11.9 12.2 11.7 11.2 11.2 White 16.1 16.6 17.2 16.3 15.7 15.6
Black 32.7 33.4 33.1 30.6 29.3 28.4 Black 36.7 37.8 38.2 33.3 32.4 32.0
Hispanic origin1 28.7 29.6 30.6 30.7 30.3 29.4 Hispanic origin 40.0 40.2 40.9 38.9 38.8 37.7
One or more worker 9.3 9.7 9.9 9.6 9.5 9.5 One or more wor 14.3 14.7 15.2 14.1 13.8 13.6
Persons in family of type: Persons in family of type:
Married coupl 7.2 7.7 8.0 7.4 6.8 6.9 Married co 11.9 12.6 13.0 11.9 11.2 11.1
Female Househ 39.7 39.0 38.7 38.6 36.5 35.8 Female Hou 45.0 44.2 44.5 42.7 40.7 40.4
Geographic regions: Geographic regions:
Northeast 12.2 12.6 13.3 12.9 12.5 12.7 Northeast 17.7 19.0 19.6 18.8 18.8 18.8
Midwest 13.2 13.3 13.4 13.0 11.0 10.7 Midwest 16.6 17.1 17.4 16.2 14.2 13.8
South 16.1 17.1 17.2 16.1 15.7 15.1 South 19.9 20.7 21.0 19.0 18.5 18.3
West 14.3 14.9 15.6 15.3 14.9 15.4 West 20.9 21.1 22.5 22.0 21.2 21.0
Metro/CC 20.2 20.9 21.5 20.9 20.6 19.6 Metro/CC 25.7 26.9 27.7 25.7 25.6 24.7
Not CC 9.6 9.9 10.3 10.3 9.1 9.4 Not CC 14.5 14.8 15.6 15.2 13.9 14.1
Nonmetro 16.1 16.9 17.2 16.0 15.6 15.9 Nonmetro 19.1 19.8 20.1 18.6 17.7 17.5
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
NAS Experimental - controlled to 1991 rate2 NAS Experimental - controlled to 1996 rate3
All persons 14.2 15.0 15.4 14.3 13.4 13.4 All persons 14.5 15.3 15.7 14.7 13.8 13.7
Children 19.9 20.7 21.0 19.3 17.8 17.7 Children 20.4 21.1 21.4 19.8 18.4 18.1
Nonelderly adults 11.6 12.2 12.8 11.9 11.3 11.2 Nonelderly adul 11.9 12.5 13.1 12.2 11.6 11.5
Elderly 14.9 16.1 16.2 15.7 14.6 15.2 Elderly 15.2 16.5 16.6 16.1 14.9 15.6
White 12.1 12.7 12.9 12.3 11.5 11.5 White 12.3 12.9 13.2 12.6 11.8 11.8
Black 27.4 29.2 30.1 25.2 24.6 24.5 Blacks 28.4 29.8 30.7 25.8 25.3 25.2
Hispanic origin1 30.6 31.1 31.0 30.1 28.0 27.8 Hispanic origin 31.3 31.8 31.8 30.9 28.8 28.5
One or more worker 10.4 10.7 11.1 10.2 9.7 9.7 One or more wor 10.6 11.0 11.4 10.5 10.1 10.0
Persons in family of type: Persons in family of type:
Married coupl 8.3 9.1 9.2 8.3 7.6 7.6 Married co 8.6 9.3 9.4 8.6 7.9 7.8
Female Househ 35.7 35.3 35.2 34.1 31.3 31.6 Female Hou 36.4 35.9 35.9 34.9 32.0 32.3
Geographic regions: Geographic regions:
Northeast 13.4 14.4 15.0 13.9 13.9 13.9 Northeast 13.6 14.7 15.4 14.2 14.2 14.3
Midwest 12.3 12.8 13.1 12.3 10.6 10.2 Midwest 12.6 13.1 13.5 12.6 10.9 10.3
South 14.8 16.0 15.9 14.3 13.7 13.9 South 15.2 16.3 16.2 14.7 14.1 14.2
West 16.2 16.2 17.4 16.9 15.6 15.6 West 16.5 16.5 17.8 17.3 16.0 16.1
Metro/CC 19.8 20.6 21.5 19.6 19.4 18.6 Metro/CC 20.2 21.0 22.0 20.1 19.9 19.2
Not CC 10.8 11.4 11.8 11.4 10.2 10.4 Not CC 11.1 11.6 12.0 11.7 10.4 10.6
Nonmetro 13.8 14.9 14.8 14.0 12.7 13.3 Nonmetro 14.2 15.2 15.2 14.3 13.0 13.5
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
/1 Persons of Hispanic origin may be of any race.
/2 Controlled to the 1991 CPS official poverty rate of 14.2 percent.
/3 Controlled to the 1996 CPS official poverty rate of 13.7 percent.
Source: Current Population Survey
Table 9. Poverty Rates Using Various Resource and Threshold Measures: 1991-1996
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1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Official 14.2 14.8 15.1 14.6 13.8 13.7
NAS Experimental 18.9 19.6 20.2 19.0 18.2 18.0
Exp resource-official thres 19.5 20.2 20.7 19.4 18.7 18.5
Old resource-exp thresholds 13.8 14.5 14.9 14.3 13.4 13.5
No Medical OOP 14.5 15.0 15.4 14.2 13.2 13.2
No Taxes 17.1 18.1 18.6 17.8 17.1 17.3
Experimental - Standardized 14.2 15.0 15.4 14.3 13.4 13.4
No EIC 14.9 15.8 16.3 15.7 15.1 15.2
No Medical OOP 10.3 10.9 11.1 10.1 9.3 9.3
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/1 Controlled to the 1991 CPS official poverty rate of 14.2 percent.
Source: Current Population Survey
Table 10. Experimental Measures With and Without Earned Income Credit: 1991-1996
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1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996
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Standardized Experimental1 14.2 15.0 15.4 14.3 13.4 13.4
Children 19.9 20.7 21.0 19.3 17.8 17.7
Blacks 27.4 29.2 30.1 25.2 24.6 24.5
Hispanic 30.6 31.1 31.0 30.1 28.0 27.8
One or more w 10.4 10.7 11.1 10.2 9.7 9.7
Without EIC 14.9 15.8 16.3 15.7 15.1 15.2
Children 21.3 22.3 22.7 21.8 20.9 21.2
Blacks 29.0 30.8 31.8 27.9 27.3 28.0
Hispanic 32.6 33.0 33.3 33.3 32.6 32.8
One or more w 11.2 11.7 12.2 11.8 11.6 11.8
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/1 Controlled to the 1991 CPS official poverty rate of 14.2 percent.
Source: Current Population Survey
Appendix Table A: Poverty Rates Using Pre-Tax1 Resource Measure; CPS 1991
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Official Measure NAS Experimental Measures
Standardized
CPS CPS CPS SIPP
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All persons 14.2 17.1 14.2 14.2
Children 21.8 24.2 20.3 20.0
Elderly 12.4 19.8 15.7 15.3
White 11.3 14.3 11.9 12.0
Black 32.7 35.0 29.0 28.4
Hispanic 28.7 36.8 30.4 30.8
One or more worker 9.3 12.2 10.0 9.6
Persons in family of type:
Married couple 7.2 10.1 8.1 9.3
Female Househo 39.7 43.7 37.6 35.2
Geographic regions:
Northeast 12.2 15.8 13.1 14.0
Midwest 13.2 14.9 12.4 10.6
South 16.1 18.3 15.0 17.0
West 14.3 19.0 16.1 14.6
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/1 This measure is similar to those presented in Table 5 with the exception that taxes paid are not deducted from income in the CPS measure.
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