Trends in Child Poverty Using an Improved Measure of Poverty

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• 作者：Christopher Wimer ; PhD^a ; ^{cw2727@columbia.edu" class="auth_mail" title="E-mail the corresponding author} ; JaeHyun Nam ; PhD(c)^a ; Jane Waldfogel ; PhD^a ; Liana Fox ; PhD^b
• 关键词：children ; poverty ; social policy ; Supplemental Poverty Measure ; trends
• 刊名：Academic Pediatrics
• 出版年：2016
• 出版时间：April 2016
• 年：2016
• 卷：16
• 期：3_supp_S
• 页码：S60-S66
• 全文大小：274 K

文摘

The official measure of poverty has been used to assess trends in children's poverty rates for many decades. But because of flaws in official poverty statistics, these basic trends have the potential to be misleading. We use an augmented Current Population Survey data set that calculates an improved measure of poverty to reexamine child poverty rates between 1967 and 2012. This measure, the Anchored Supplemental Poverty Measure, is based partially on the US Census Bureau and Bureau of Labor Statistics' new Supplemental Poverty Measure. We focus on 3 age groups of children, those aged 0 to 5, 6 to 11, and 12 to 17 years. Young children have the highest poverty rates, both historically and today. However, among all age groups, long-term poverty trends have been more favorable than official statistics would suggest. This is entirely due to the effect of counting resources from government policies and programs, which have reduced poverty rates substantially for children of all ages. However, despite this progress, considerable disparities in the risk of poverty continue to exist by education level and family structure.