Many have argued that “poverty” sho uld represent more than just a shortfall of income in a given  time period, as it is most often currently measured. While researchers have generally assumed  that more severe experiences of income poverty are more strongly associated with other ,  perhaps  intr insically more important ,  material well - being outcomes, this paper is one of the first to  empirically examine the extent of these relationships. Using data from the 1996 Survey of  Income and Program Participation, W e find that income poverty is strongly as sociated with  food  insecurity, diffic ulty meeting basic needs, and possession of consumer durables. While poverty  had a significant association with the three other hardship measures considered — housing  problems, neighborhood problems, and fear of crime — the se associations were not as strong, as  the latter are likely more affected by other factors such as assets and location of residence . Our  findings therefore suggest that various measures of material hardship should not be considered  monolithically either c onceptually or even from a policy perspective, where, for example, short - term income transfers would likely have different effects on different basic capabilities.