What will the New Supplemental Poverty Measure Tell Us?

In response to longstanding criticism of the official poverty measure, the Census Bureau has developed a new supplemental measure that will likely do a better job of capturing people’s economic well-being. It will do so by making a more accurate accounting of in-kind benefits received from the government, necessary expenses (like child and health care), and regional cost differences. The new measure does not include a savings component to might reflect an additional dimension of vulnerability but it should be a major step forward.

My friend Juliane Baron is organizing a webinar this week focusing on what the supplemental measure tells us about children living in poverty. This will be particularly of interest since it should provide a fuller picture of the Great Recession and how our public policies have both mitigated and compounded its impact.

The lineup and webinar details are below:

Dr. David S. Johnson, Chief, Social, Economic, and Housing Statistics, Division, U.S. Census Bureau; Visiting Scholar, Russell Sage Foundation

Dr. Timothy Smeeding, Arts and Sciences Distinguished, Professor of Public Affairs and Economics, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Director, Institute for Research on Poverty

Dr. Jane Waldfogel, Compton Foundation Centennial Professor of Social Work for the Prevention of Children’s and Youth Problems and Professor of Public Affairs, Columbia University; Visiting Professor, London School of Economics

To rsvp, email: populationassociation.webex.com