Reconsidering the Federal Poverty Measure
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
- Program Education
- Program Area Expanding Economic Opportunity
- Grant Amount $60,000
- Grant Period April 1, 2004–June 30, 2006
- Location Washington, DC, United States
- Geographic Focus United States
About this grant
This grant will enable the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research (AEI) to explore how to better understand contemporary poverty through a combination of technical improvements to the current poverty measure and greater use of enhanced versions of the Census Bureau’s alternative and experimental poverty measures. The federal poverty measure has been the primary statistic for measuring U.S. poverty and allocating social welfare benefits for almost 40 years. It has been broadly criticized for numerous flaws.Multiyear funding will specifically support the discussion and resulting papers on the role of assets in determining the well-being of low-income Americans. Findings will be disseminated among key stakeholders, including poverty researchers, low-income advocates and policymakers.AEI, established in 1943, is one the largest think tanks in the United States. Its mission is to preserve and strengthen the foundations of the United States through research, debate and publications.