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View Full Version : The new poverty



CSM
03-03-2010, 07:23 AM
Want to bet that this turns into a formula for more "victims", higher taxes, bigger government, and another political talking point?

U.S. Plans New Measure for Poverty
By SAM ROBERTS
Published: March 2, 2010

The federal government announced on Tuesday that it would begin producing an experimental measurement of poverty next year, a step toward the first overhaul of the formula since it was developed nearly a half-century ago by an obscure civil servant in the Social Security Administration.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/03/us/03poverty.html?ref=us

Kathianne
03-03-2010, 07:39 AM
What does 'somewhat' below the median mean? 3%, 5%, 20%? Crikey!


...The new supplemental measure will be released for the first time in the fall of next year. It adapts National Academy of Sciences recommendations issued in 1995 and later embraced by, among others, the administration of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg of New York to formulate antipoverty policies.

“They’ve shown the way,” Ms. Blank said.

Federal officials describe the supplemental measure as experimental and a work in progress. It establishes a poverty threshold that depends on the cost of food, shelter, clothing and utilities “plus a little more” for “a population that is not poor but is somewhat below the median.”

The original measure figured costs for two adults and two children. The new one covers one adult and two children, a family structure more prevalent these days among lower-income households, and would be adjusted to reflect living costs in different metropolitan areas.

The threshold would be adjusted to calculate the value of in-kind benefits, like food stamps, and whether homeowners have a mortgage. Tax credits would be added to the total income and benefits; taxes, work expenses (including commuting and child care), and out-of-pocket medical costs would be deducted.

Gaffer
03-03-2010, 09:07 AM
“plus a little more” is the monthly drug allowance for entertainment purposes.