What there is to know
- There are 37.9 million Americans living in poverty, representing 11.6% of the total population, according to the US Census Bureau.
- The number reported by the Census Bureau is based on the official measure of poverty, which has remained largely unchanged since the mid-1960s.
- In response, the Census Bureau developed the Supplemental Poverty Measure in 2011 as an improvement to the existing measure. But some experts say even the SPM fails to accurately measure poverty in the United States.
NEW YORK — In January 2021, 37.9 million Americans lived in poverty, or 11.6 percent of the total population, according to the latest report from the U.S. Census Bureau. And this despite the fact that the United States ranks first among the richest countries in the world in terms of GDP.
“Poverty and economic insecurity are very common, experienced very often,” said Shailly Gupta Barnes, policy director at the Kairos Center for Religions, Rights and Social Justice. “They are as much a part of American history as the successes of the American dream.”
But the number reported by the Census Bureau is based on the official measure of poverty, which has remained largely unchanged since the mid-1960s. It is calculated by comparing pre-tax income to a threshold set at three times the cost of a minimum diet. of food in 1963.
“The researcher whose work became the basis for this measure never intended it to be used in the way it is currently used,” Barnes said.
Grace Bonilla, president of the United Way of New York, said the official measure of poverty doesn’t take into account very obvious indicators. To start, look at pre-tax income instead of actual net pay. It also does not take into account factors such as family composition or the cost of childcare.
“It didn’t follow the way life changed for most Americans,” Bonilla said.
In response, the Census Bureau developed the Supplemental Poverty Measure in 2011 as an improvement to the existing measure. It incorporates into the measure both the cost of basic needs such as food, clothing and utilities, as well as government transfers and programs. It also takes into account geographic differences and household size. The MPS rate for 2021 was 7.8%, compared to the official poverty measure rate of 11.6%, mainly due to government assistance during the COVID-19 pandemic.
But some experts say even PMS is insufficient.
“It’s a step in the right direction, but it falls far short of giving us an accurate count of poverty in the United States,” Bonilla said. “If you have a universal toothbrush for the whole country, you’re going to miss a number of people who are at risk of poverty or who are technically already living in poverty but who aren’t counted in the measurement.”
The Census Bureau told CNBC that the official measure of poverty and the supplementary measure of poverty provide consistent poverty measurement data and that the Bureau is continually striving to innovate and improve the design and measuring its well-being statistics. .
EThis article was originally published in English by Juhohn Lee for our sister network CNBC.com. For more on CNBC, head here.