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The Census Bureau releases official poverty measure estimates each year using both the Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplement (CPS ASEC) and the American Community Survey (ACS). Official poverty estimates can be created relatively easily using data from either survey. However, Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM) estimates are not as easily calculated using the ACS. The SPM is an extension of the official poverty measure that considers non-cash benefits and necessary expenses (such as income and payroll taxes, medical and work expenses) when determining an individual’s poverty status. The SPM subsequently requires additional income information that is available in the CPS ASEC but not in the ACS. To calculate SPM estimates using the ACS, missing benefit and expense information is imputed using three years of CPS ASEC data. While this normally may be a reasonable strategy, its implementation is potentially problematic for 2020 and 2021 due to the unprecedented transformation of the economy and temporary expansion of social safety net programs. Therefore, it may be best to exclude pre-pandemic data and use fewer years of the CPS ASEC for 2021 ACS SPM imputations. The first purpose of this paper is to explore the effects of using fewer (than the normal three) years of CPS ASEC data in ACS imputations. The second is to develop a solution to the possible double counting of pandemic Economic Impact Payments in the ACS.
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WORKING PAPER
Supplemental Poverty Measure Working PapersSome content on this site is available in several different electronic formats. Some of the files may require a plug-in or additional software to view.
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