Some interesting new conclusions about poverty in the U.S. suggest it isn't as bad as some let on. With a booming economy and higher numbers rejoining the work force, it seems logical that generalizations about poverty will lag reality.
And here's something researchers have chewed on -- a better measure of poverty is consumption not income surveys. Bruce D. Meyer and James X. Sullivan tell us this: Hardly Anyone Wants to Admit America Is Beating Poverty. (Alternate link.) They make three main points about traditional poverty measure.
First, official income data ignore many of the government distribution schemes.
Second, official poverty measure relies on surveys. And we all know that many if not most people decline to participate in surveys.
Third, research has historically depended on the reported Consumer Price Index for all Urban Consumers which ignores new products that have become popular.
Instead, these researchers put more emphasis on consumption and the goods and services people can afford to purchase. And they note that the poor today are living as well as the middle class did a generation ago.
Their conclusion:
Fighting poverty requires knowing its extent and among whom it is most severe. Modern antipoverty efforts should promote self-sufficiency. This can be accomplished through work requirements, as well as by helping low-skilled individuals find jobs, offering public employment in targeted cases and helping low-income parents secure child care.
At the same time, the safety net should ensure that those who are unable to work have access to sufficient resources to meet their basic needs. Encouraging self-sufficiency used to be a bipartisan issue; it can be again.
Anecdotally, another admittedly unofficial measure might be the obesity we see among fellow shoppers. If nothing else, they are eating well.
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10:21 AM 8/8/2018
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