Communication Are Children Worse Off'? Evaluating Well-Being Using a New (and Improved) Measure of Poverty

• Main Authors: John Iceland, Kathleen Short, Thesia I. Garner, David Johnson
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 1999
• Subjects: Kathleen; Iceland
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.232.5917; http://stats.bls.gov/pir/journal/gt06.pdf

Although child poverty rates continue to surpass those of others, there is growing consensus that current official poverty measure has become outdated and flawed. Using data from the Current Population Survey and the Survey of Income and Program Participation, we implement an experimental poverty measure based on recommendations by a National Academy of Sciences panel. We find that while child poverty rates continue to surpass those of others, the gap between child and adult poverty rates is smaller under the experimental measure. Results highlight the impact of noncash government benefits and the Earned Income Tax Credit in reducing child poverty. John Iceland and Kathleen Short are researchers at the U.S. Census Bureau. Thesia L. Garner and David Johnson are research economists at the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Public-use versions of the survey data analyzed here are available from the U.S. Census Bureau, Direct all correspondence and