Data shows slight rise in poverty in the United States

Today, the U.S. Census Bureau released the poverty data for 2007. The data suggest a slight, statistically insignificant, rise in poverty (from 12.3% to 12.5%) and a greater increase in child poverty but as Bread for the World's press release, points out this data masks what is happening to poor people in the United States. The continuing impact of the economic downturn, subprime mortgage crisis and the rising cost of living--fuel, healthcare, and food--particularly since the beginning of this year are not captured by this data. So, as Rebecca Blank, mentioned today at a Brookings event, the figures for 2008 could be much worse.

Also, the way the federal government measures poverty is problematic--it is out of date and does not accurately reflect the expenses that poor people have to incur. This point was raised by Ron Haskins of Brookings and Michael Laracy of the Annie E. Casey Foundation. Panelists expressed optimism that there is growing awareness of the inadequacy of the measure and that under a new Congress and administration there may be an opening to revise the way the United States measures poverty. Without accurate data, it is very difficult to target anti-poverty programs effectively, not to mention measure whether they are having the desired impact. In July, Bread for the World President, David Beckmann submitted a statement to the House

Ways and Means Committee's  Subcommittee on Income Security and Family Support on establishing a modern poverty measure that would correct three key flaws--

1. the assumption that food consumes a third of a family's budget
2. the current measure does not take into account geographic differences in cost of living
3. the current measure also does not include the benefits low income families get from government programs like the Earned Income Tax Credit and Food Stamps

Panelists also pointed out that the Census data does not provide a dynamic picture of poverty--it does not show whether the same people who were in poverty last year are still in poverty this year, or how long people have been in poverty. I was also struck by the fact that within the federal government there is no single agency or individual, aside from the President, who is held accountable for the fact that we have not been able to reduce the level of poverty in this country in over 30 years. Who develops and coordinates a poverty reduction strategy? I am not sure anyone is really in charge.