Supplemental Poverty Measure

Housing costs, public benefits alter state poverty rates, By Melissa Maynard, December 4, 2013, USA Today: “The official federal poverty rate measures pretax income—period. It doesn’t consider government benefits such as food stamps, nor does it factor in the costs of housing, taxes and child care, all of which vary greatly across states and help determine how rich or poor people feel. At the urging of the National Academy of Sciences and others, the Census Bureau in 2010 began calculating a Supplemental Poverty Measure as a way to create a more nuanced picture of poverty in America…”