Who is poor? How to measure poverty and why it matters Covering Suburban Poverty Reporting Institute Hofstra University Hempstead, NY 27 September 2013.
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Who is poor? How to measure poverty and why
it matters
Covering Suburban Poverty Reporting InstituteHofstra UniversityHempstead, NY 27 September 2013
Curtis Skinner Director of Family Economic
Security
www.nccp.org
What is poverty?
Science, values, ideology weigh in
Does America really have a poverty problem? We’re not Bangladesh Poor folks have a microwave ,TV, car Poor folks made bad choices: school, work,
marrying, having kids. “Deserving poor.”
Good poverty reporting requires good responses
www.nccp.org
www.nccp.org
Concepts of poverty
Income poverty Absolute
Relative
Strengths and weaknesses
Material hardship/consumption poverty Strengths and weaknesses
Multidimensional deprivation Strengths and weaknesses
www.nccp.org
www.nccp.org
www.nccp.org
Measuring suburban income poverty: Official vs.
NAS-type scale
www.nccp.org
Measuring suburban income poverty: Other approaches Suffolk County Legislature, Welfare to Work Commission Report, 2012 Double the official poverty threshold: 20% of
county residents poor, compared to 6% officially
Basic Needs Budgets NCCP Basic Needs Budget Calculator Center for Women’s Welfare, University of
Washington, Self-Sufficiency Standard Economic Policy Institute, Basic Family Budget
Calculator
www.nccp.org
www.nccp.org
www.nccp.org
Data sources, suburbs
♦Official poverty statistics American FactFinder
NAS-type measures Institute for Research on Poverty, annual, county-
level data for Wisconsin Stanford U. and Public Policy Institute of California,
county-level data for California No other regularly updated, NAS-type measures
for suburban areas; Census produces annual measure only for nation and states
Income Poverty
www.nccp.org
Data sources, suburbs
♦Basic Needs Budgets Basic Needs Budget Calculator, National
Center for Children in Poverty (more than 100 metro areas and counties in 20 states, years vary)
Self-Sufficiency Standard (all counties in 37 states and DC, years vary)
EPI Basic Family Budget Calculator (615 communities; metro and rural areas, updated to 2013)
Income Poverty (continued)
www.nccp.org
Data sources, suburbs
Opportunity Index (many counties; 16 indicators in economic, education and community dimensions)
KIDS COUNT Data Center (children only; counties and congressional districts in all states; hundreds of indicators in demographic, economic, education, family and community, health, and safety and risky behavior dimensions)
Multidimensional deprivation
www.nccp.org
Data sources, suburbs
Numerous academic studies; no widely-accepted and regularly updated measure available for local areas Bruce D. Meyer, University of Chicago, and James
X. Sullivan, University of Notre Dame, are leading researchers
Material deprivation/consumption poverty
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Contact Curtis Skinnerskinner@nccp.org
Visit NCCP websitewww.nccp.org
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