Skip to main content

Census Poverty Rate Higher

Census Poverty Rate Higher - An alternate measure of poverty that takes into account several of the government’s most effective antipoverty programs shows the 2009 poverty rate was lower than the government’s official measure, underscoring the breadth of the government’s antipoverty efforts during the recession but also adding fuel to the long-running debate about how best to gauge who is poor and if their lives have gotten better or worse.

The official poverty rate for 2009, reported last year, was 14.3%, up 1.1 percentage points from a year earlier, the fastest jump since 1994. The threshold for poverty in the U.S. in 2009 was a family of four earning $21,756.

The problem with the official measure, many economists say, is that it is a gauge of income and doesn’t take into account a myriad of non-cash government programs — such as food stamps, rent assistance and the Earned Income Tax Credit — that are used to combat poverty.

And, indeed, when such programs are taken into account the poverty rate stayed flat in 2009. A measure of poverty that measures after-tax income, but includes noncash benefits, pegs the poverty rate at 10.9%, the same rate as in 2008, according to an analysis of recently released Census data by Bruce Meyer, an economist at the University of Chicago.

Census Poverty Rate Higher
Labels:

Comments

Anonymous said…
IT WOULD HELP EVERYONE IF THEY WOULD REMOVE FROM THE POVERTY STATISTICS ALL THOSE WHO HAVE EITHER CHOSE OR THEIR RELATIVES OF THOSE WHO CHOSE AN ABNORMAL LIFE STYLE. NOT THAT THESE PEOPLE DON'T NEED ASSISTANCE BUT LETS SEPARATE THE LOSERS FROM THE THE REAL NEEDY.
IN THE LOSER GROUPS ARE THE DROPOUTS, THE EARLY TEENAGE PARENTS, THE DRUG ADDICTS AND THE UNMARRIED WOMEN WITH MULIPLE KIDS BY MULTIPLE DONORS.
9:38 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Farm dogs maul Irish Tourist

Farm dogs maul Irish Tourist - An Irish tourist who was mauled to death by two dogs while visiting an organic farm in Penang yesterday morning had more than 50 bite wounds and lacerations all over his body. Penang Hospital Forensic Department head Datuk Dr Bhupinder Singh, who performed the post-mortem on Maurice Sullivan (pix), 50, today, said he found the wounds on the victim's head, neck, hands and legs. "The victim had died as a result of severe haemorrhage due to multiple injuries from the dogs' bites," he said, adding that there were no signs that Sullivan suffered any ailment at the time of death. Farm dogs maul Irish Tourist Bhupinder also said both Sullivan's ears and the left side of his face were gnawed off in the incident. One of the ears was recovered from the scene. Bhupinder told reporters this after carrying out the post-mortem which began at 10am. Sullivan was attacked by two mongrels at the farm while taking photographs of the gr...
6 comments
Read more

Man Hits Teen on Plane Over iPhone

Man Hits Teen on Plane Over iPhone - Police say a man on a Southwest Airlines flight from Las Vegas punched a teenager who refused to turn off his iPhone as the plane approached the Boise airport. Officers arrested 68-year-old Russell E. Miller, of Boise, on suspicion of misdemeanor battery Tuesday. He has been released from jail on bond. Witnesses told police the 15-year-old was playing games and listening to music on his cell phone when flight attendants instructed passengers to turn off their electronic devices because the plane was landing. Witnesses told police that when the teen didn't respond, Miller got angry and punched the boy in the arm. Miller says he "tapped" the teen on the shoulder after he refused to turn off the phone. He told the Idaho Statesman that he may have "overreacted," but that he did not punch the teen. Man Hits Teen on Plane Over iPhone
5 comments
Read more

Contactless Debit Cards

Contactless Debit Cards - Contactless debit cards will make their formal debut in Canada next year with the launch of Interac Flash from Acxsys Corp.’s Interac Association, Canada’s national debit network. Interac’s first two Flash issuers are Scotiabank and RBC Royal Bank, which will roll out their first contactless cards next summer. The first acquirer is TD Merchant Services, a unit of Toronto-Dominion Bank. More issuers and acquirers are on the way, an Interac spokesperson tells Digital Transactions News, though no announcements have been made yet. Interac and the banks tested Flash this summer at some high-volume, small-ticket merchants in downtown Toronto. The spokesperson expects national merchants will be making formal announcements about acceptance. “There’s a lot of excitement in the merchant community,” she says. “Merchants are looking for that faster throughput.” In a statement, the Retail Council of Canada endorsed the new card. “Interac Flash is a welcome and needed ...
Post a Comment
Read more