Poverty Redefined...

[NASSIR]

Interesting..

 

A Transcript from NPR's Talk of the Nation

And now we want to move on to a discussion about poverty. For the first time in nearly half a century, the federal government is planning to redefine what it means to be poor in America. Its actually an experiment, but its the first step in rethinking the official definition of poverty since the original measurement was put in place by the Social Security Administration in the mid-1960s.

 

Mr. ALGERNON AUSTIN (Director of Race, Ethnicity and Economy Program, Economic Policy Institute): Its a pleasure to talk with you.

MARTIN: Whats wrong with the current definition of poverty as its defined by the government? Why do people want to change it?

 

Mr. AUSTIN: Well, the definition of poverty was basically based on, solely on the cost of food. And it was assumed that poverty would be three times the sort of minimum cost of food for a family.

 

MARTIN: Cost of food?

 

Mr. AUSTIN: Yes. Yes, its based on a food basket. However, the cost, over the years, the cost of food has not risen as quickly as the cost of housing and medical care. So, for example, in 1960, the poverty rate - the poverty line for a family of four was about half of the national median family income. Today, its about less than a third, so it certainly has been declining relative to family incomes over time.

 

MARTIN: So what will the new measure show? I ought to mention that initially the government is going to keep the traditional measure in place, but theyre going to, I guess, do sort of a test in various places to see what you come up with if you use these new instruments. And...

 

Mr. AUSTIN: Right. And the new measure makes, I think, makes sense to most people. It includes food. But in addition to food, it factors in the cost of clothing, the cost of shelter, the cost of utilities. The exact details Im not sure that theyve finalized yet, but it will probably include some cost of medical expenses and may have adjustment for, geographic adjustments because some places the cost of living is much higher than others. So, it may include all of those factors in trying to determine what does a family whats the minimum that a family need?

 

MARTIN: And the cost of, well, of course the cost of housing varies wildly...

 

Mr. AUSTIN: Yes.

 

 

MARTIN: Why is this new measure so important? Why has there been so much -whats the word Im looking for - sort of energy around changing this measurement over the years?

 

Mr. AUSTIN: I think, everyone recognizes that our measure is out of date. So, its really important and its an important advance that we update our measure. As I said, food is not the only sort of serious expenditure. As you mentioned, the cost of housing varies dramatically, medical cost varies dramatically, utilities also. So, all of these things are daily expenses for families, so all of these things need to be considered.

 

 

MARTIN: But this isnt solely an academic exercise, I mean, this measurement is used for specific reasons. So, why do advocates and people in the government care so deeply about this? And do you expect and I think, frankly, I think a lot of people wanted to expect that the measurement of those who are officially considered poor, do you expect that number to rise just because of the measurement change, not because of the recession, but because of the way were measuring poverty?

 

Mr. AUSTIN: Yes, yes. And we can see the alternatives that the Census Bureau is considering is based on recommendations from the National Academy of Sciences. And for about a decade now, the Census Bureau has actually been publishing these alternative measures. And there are many different alternatives, so its not clear which one they will use or how they might modify it.

 

But with these measures, you do see shifting of poverty. You know, so generally older, you see increases in the poverty rates for older Americans, some declines for younger, some shifting of poverty towards higher places that have higher cost of living, like the Northeast and the West. And even depending on, you know, which measure you look at, you can actually even see some declines in the poverty rates for people living in the South and even some slight declines for African-Americans. And thats probably due in part because still about half of African-Americans live in the South......

 

 

Source: NPR

[Khayr]

It includes food. But in addition to food, it factors in the cost of clothing, the cost of shelter, the cost of utilities.

Is there such a thing as 'middle' income? If you live in a 2500sq ft. home with 2 garages and drive 2 new cars, why would are you a 'middle incomer'? That sounds rich to me compared to the rest of the population.