This paper lays the groundwork for preparing estimates of a Supplemental Poverty Measure for the U.S. at the Census Bureau. Estimates presented here are based on the CPS 2009 ASEC and refer to calendar year 2008. These estimates differ primarily from earlier estimates (Garner and Short, 2010) by employing a new method for valuing housing subsidies that are added to resources. The new method is described and summary statistics are discussed. Beginning in 2010, new questions were included in the CPS ASEC to collect information about child care and medical out-of-pocket expenditures, child support paid to other households, and whether or not a homeowner had a mortgage. Questions about energy assistance will be expanded to include the entire year, rather than just heating assistance in the winter. In this paper, most of the values for these items are obtained by statistical matching techniques (child care and medical out-of-pocket expenditures, presence of a mortgage) or ignored (child support paid and cooling assistance in summer months.)

Results show poverty rates for the official poverty measure and the research SPM measure. The research SPM measure results in slightly higher poverty rates for most groups. In addition, the distribution of people in the total population to the distribution of people classified as in poverty using the official poverty measure and the research SPM are examined. Generally, using the SPM poverty measure results in a population classified as poor that has characteristics more similar to the total population than that using the official measure, with some notable exceptions. These findings are similar to those reported in earlier work using a variety of experimental poverty measures that followed recommendations of the NAS poverty panel.