Facing the Facts: New York Points the Way

The nation’s poverty measure was developed in the 1960s and was based on a 1955 study that showed that poor Americans spent roughly a third of their after-tax income on food. Ever since then, the country’s poverty levels have been gauged by tripling the annual cost of groceries. That model, while updated for inflation, has been criticized for being out of date, inaccurate and not taking into account how expenses like housing vary nationwide. (City Refines Formula to Measure Poverty Rate, New York Times)

Obviously, the standard is inadequate and grossly incomplete...

Thanks to the leadership of New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the city recently unveiled a new standard for determining and measuring poverty levels. The New York test factors in costs such as housing, child care, clothing and other expenses not included in the formula used by the federal government. The plan also points up the fact that the cost of living varies from location to location across the nation.

So what?

Bottom line: there are many more Americans living in poverty today than the federal government recognizes in its calculations. Frankly, no surprise to those of us who work in poor areas of urban America.

Take the time to read the entire report by clicking on the link above. Let me know what you think after you've read the story.

We have lots of work to do.

Comments (1)

Peter Tramel

Three cheers for Bloomberg! Let's hope that this becomes a national trend or, better yet, a federal policy.

I think that this is highly relevant to the debate about national health care, since I would like to see us move towards a Clinton-style plan for national health care but in a way that does not criminalize poverty, as Obama worried that Clinton's plan would.

I was just in Boston, by the way, and Massachusetts puts ads in the subways threatening a $900+ fine for not purchasing the state-subsidized health care this year. Obviously, many Bostonians who wouldn't qualify as impoverished according to current national standards can't afford either the health care or the fine.

Posted by Peter Tramel | August 3, 2008 3:47 AM

Posted on August 3, 2008 03:47

Post your own comment

Name:

Email Address:

Remember personal info?

(To create links here or for style, you may wish to use HTML tags in your comments) We want to know what you think. Feel free to share whatever you'd like to:

Menu

Shortcuts

Frequent Contributors