Commentaries and Research

Extensive research examining the current measure and alternative proposals has been published over the years. In this section, Spotlight gathers key commentary, research, and exclusive webcasts featuring leading experts and lawmakers to explore how the United States can improve the federal poverty measure.

To read the latest commentary, click here.

To read the latest research, click here.

To watch Spotlight webcasts on the poverty measure, click here.

FEATURED COMMENTARY

The Supplemental Poverty Measure: Two Views
By Indivar Dutta-Gupta, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, and Peter Mitchell, The Clapham Group

On November 7, 2011, the Census Bureau released the Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM), an experimental measure of poverty designed to account for perceived flaws the official poverty measure. Spotlight has gathered reflections from two experts on each side of the aisle to address the question: how do the recent Census findings in the SPM affect our understanding of and response to poverty?



FEATURED REPORT

The Research Supplemental Poverty Measure: 2010
U.S. Census Bureau, November 2011

In 2010, the national poverty rate was 16% according to new estimates from "The Research Supplemental Poverty Measure: 2010," released by the Census Bureau. This is a .8% increase from the official poverty measure's estimate of 15.2%. The supplemental measure is intended to better reflect contemporary social and economic realities and government policy effects and thus provide a further understanding of economic conditions and trends. The new report presents estimates of the prevalence of poverty at the national level in 2010 -- overall and for selected demographic groups -- for both the official and supplemental measures.