Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Daily Local News reports: What Washington gets wrong about measuring poverty.
By Amber Phillips, Digital First Media
Posted: 02/19/14, 1:34 PM EST |
Washington lawmakers have spent trillions of dollars fighting poverty based on a four-decade old measure that most economists agree is wrong.
Many national efforts to help lower-income Americans rely on the government’s official poverty line, developed in 1965. But that dated statistic includes only people who received cash-based assistance from the federal government and doesn’t take into account things like food stamps, tax credits and free school lunches.
“The official measure is pretty much worthless,” said Ron Haskins, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, a think tank, and former senior adviser on welfare policy for President George W. Bush.
The problematic measure undermines anti-poverty programs by making them look less successful, economists say. It also distorts today’s poverty landscape by misconstruing many key statistics. That can lead Congress to spend money on the wrong kinds of programs and advocates to push for the wrong kinds of initiatives.
Read full story @ http://www.dailylocal.com/government-and-politics/20140219/what-washington-gets-wrong-about-measuring-poverty