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Presidential address: How to improve poverty measurement in the United States
Author(s) -
Blank Rebecca M.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
journal of policy analysis and management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.898
H-Index - 84
eISSN - 1520-6688
pISSN - 0276-8739
DOI - 10.1002/pam.20323
Subject(s) - poverty , statistic , variety (cybernetics) , presidential system , politics , presidential address , political science , poverty level , european union , development economics , measuring poverty , economic growth , public economics , economics , public administration , computer science , economic policy , statistics , mathematics , artificial intelligence , law
This paper discusses the reasons why the current official U.S. poverty measure is outdated and nonresponsive to many anti‐poverty initiatives. A variety of efforts to update and improve the statistic have failed, for political, technical, and institutional reasons. Meanwhile, the European Union is taking a very different approach to poverty measurement. The paper ends with four recommended steps that would allow the U.S. to improve its measurement of poverty and economic need.