Resources
The official poverty measure includes only pre-tax cash income, whereas the National Academy of Sciences definition also includes capital gains, in-kind benefits, etc.
This report looks at the results of implementing a poverty measure for Minnesota using the American Community Survey (ACS) – including the benefits, challenges and implications of this poverty benchmark. The report further describes the potential effects of alternative safety-net policies on poverty.
While most states agree that a benchmark is needed to track progress in reducing poverty, the official measure of poverty used in the United States – based only on cash income and a 1950s-era national measure of need – doesn’t suffice. What’s needed is a poverty measurement using the American Community Survey to help inform and test the results of poverty reductions policies.