Podcast Commentary: Revising the Poverty Measure

The official poverty line is way out-of-date with contemporary living standards, all but ignoring the current costs of housing, transportation, and child care. It also fails to account for regional cost of living differences or the value of government transfers like the EITC. Consequently, the measure has limited value in describing economic adversity and the impact of our policy efforts. An overhaul is long overdue.

That’s why I’m pleased the Obama Administration plans to revisit the poverty measure and pursue alternatives that can provide a more complete picture of economic insecurity. As they pursue this task, I strongly recommend that they consider a key factor often overlooked: access to savings and assets. Hear my podcast commentary on why this new approach is worth pursuing.