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Using ACS Earnings Data to Adjust Supplemental Poverty Measure Thresholds
Using ACS Earnings Data to Adjust Supplemental Poverty Measure Thresholds
Working Paper Number: SEHSD-WP2020-04
Abstract
Official poverty statistics are used in the United States to evaluate economic well-being at the national level, and to distribute federal anti-poverty funds across states and urban areas. However, these statistics are based on poverty thresholds that do not take into account geographic differences in price levels. To provide an alternative estimate, beginning in 2011, the U.S. Census Bureau has issued a supplemental poverty measure (SPM). Unlike the official measure, the SPM adjusts the poverty thresholds for geographic differences in the cost of housing. This paper examines the impact of a different methodology for calculating geographic adjustments for the Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM) that uses a comparable wage index modeled on the work done by the National Center for Education Statistics.
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Page Last Revised - October 8, 2021
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