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Measuring want
The nation’s official poverty measurement, in place since the 1960s, is getting an update.
The U.S. Census Bureau announced March 2 that a 15-year research project has yielded a new, “improved understanding of the well-being of Americans,” according to its press release.
While the old measurement will still have official force, used for determining family eligibility for government aid, a Census Bureau report says the supplemental measure will be used as a statistical view of want on a national, regional and local level. It’s expected to account for tax payments, work-related expenses like child care and a car, and other items that put more financial pressure on U.S. households that earn far more than the current poverty line: $14,000 for a two-person family.
One controversial expense included by the interagency workgroup that’s released the new measurement: the monthly cost of medical out-of-pocket expenses for anything not covered by a health plan. That, says the workgroup’s report, “assures that dollars spent on medical care are not considered available to purchase food or shelter.”
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