Supplemental Poverty Measure 2013 Kathleen S. Short April 13, 2015 Thanks are extended to the many individuals who assisted in the research on developing the first supplemental poverty measure for the U.S. The views expressed in this research, including those related to statistical, methodological, technical, or operational issues, are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official positions or policies of the Census Bureau, or the views of other staff members. The author accepts responsibility for all errors. This paper is released to inform interested parties of ongoing research and to encourage discussion of work in progress. This paper reports the results of research and analysis undertaken by Census Bureau staff. It has undergone more limited review than official publications.

Official Poverty Measure Released September 16, 2014 First adopted in 1969 Continues under OMB Statistical Directive 14 The 2013 official poverty rate for the nation was 14.5 percent, down from 15.0 percent in There were 45.3 million people in poverty, not statistically different from last year. 2

Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM) Observations from the Interagency Technical Working Group Will not replace the official poverty measure Will not be used for resource allocation or program eligibility Census Bureau and BLS responsible for improving and updating the measure Continued research and improvement Based on National Academy of Sciences expert panel recommendations Measuring Poverty: A New Approach (Citro and Michael, 1995) 3

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Poverty Rates 2013  For most groups, SPM rates are higher than official poverty rates  The SPM shows lower poverty rates for  Children  Individuals included in new SPM resource units  Blacks  Renters  Individuals living outside metropolitan areas  Individuals covered by only public health insurance  Those with a work disability  Official and SPM poverty rates for females, people in female householder units, the native born, and those living in the South or Midwest, and those not working at least one week are not statistically different. 17

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SPM: 2012 to 2013  In 2013 the SPM rate was 15.5 percent, an 0.5 percentage point decline from 2012  The number poor was 48.7 million, unchanged from 2012  Between the two years, poverty rates were not different for most groups except for ---  Increases for  Those with private health insurance  Decreases for  Children  Those in married-couple families  Hispanics  Foreign born and non-citizens  Renters  Residing in principal cities or in the Northeast  Those with public health insurance only and the uninsured 24

Interagency Technical Working Group on Developing a Supplemental Poverty Measure (ITWG ) The ITWG laid out a research agenda As with any statistic regularly published by a Federal statistical agency, the Working Group expects that changes in this measure over time will be decided upon in a process led by research methodologists and statisticians within the Census Bureau in consultation with BLS and with other appropriate data agencies and outside experts, and will be based on solid analytical evidence. Among the elements designated by the ITWG for further development were methods to  include noncash benefits in the thresholds  improving geographic adjustments for price differences across areas  improving methods to estimate work-related expenses (commuting costs)  evaluating methods for subtracting MOOP expenses having to do with the uninsured

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