This In These Times article convincingly makes the argument that the Orshansky Threshold model for calculating the poverty line in the US is woefully inadequate and needs to be updated. Specifically, it is an overly-conservative measure for poverty figures and thus provides an overly optimistic picture for policy makers on the extent of poverty in America today.
So are the Bush Administration's tax cuts for the rich lifting up the poor as well? The latest Census data doesn't indicate it is.
From the article:
Census data released this past August suggests that the number of Americans in poverty grew slightly in 2004 (the most recent year for which data is available) to 12.7 percent from the 12.5 percent recorded the previous year, representing about 37 million Americans. Since 2000, the number of people living in official poverty has increased by 5.4 million. But according to experts, that number vastly underestimates the real total. Duke University sociology professor David Brady puts it this way: “Each August we Americans tell ourselves a lie. The entire episode is profoundly dishonest.”
Writing in Dollars & Sense, economist Ellen Frank explains how poverty calculations are made by the government--and the limitations in methodology.
And this factsheet is a good resource for understanding just how pathetic Bush's record in the "war on poverty" really is. Then again. it's not really syprising when you consider he doesn't think it's the government's responsibility in the first place.
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