Trends in Child Poverty by Race/Ethnicity: New Evidence Using a Historical Supplemental Poverty Measure
Our improved historical version of the Supplemental Poverty Measure provides the first estimates of racial and ethnic differences in child poverty from 1970 to the present.
Incorporating Geographical Differences in the Cost of Living Using the Supplemental Poverty Measure
We built the first historical SPM time series from 1967-2014 that adjusts poverty thresholds for cost of living. Geographic adjustments increase poverty rates in metro areas, the Western states, and among Latinos and decrease poverty rates in non-metro areas and the South.
Progress on Poverty? New Estimates of Historical Trends Using an Anchored SPM
We explore historical trends in poverty using an absolute, or anchored, SPM threshold—setting the poverty threshold at the 2012 SPM level. While official statistics show poverty rates to be fairly flat over time, our historical analysis reveals poverty rates have dropped 40% since the 1960s due to government policies.
Trends in Child Poverty Using an Improved Measure of Poverty
Our re-examination of child poverty rates from 1967 and 2012 using our historical SPM reveals young children have the highest rates of poverty both historically and today. However, long-term poverty trends are more favorable than official statistics would suggest when government policies and programs are more fully accounted for.