/GLUME 92 NUMBER 51 DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA - SATURDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2013 TEL ^HC TE )19) 682-2913 PRICE: nJ
Merry Christmas
Sa-To’s Dance Academy presented its Fall-Winter Showing Dec. 14 at Hayti Heritage Center. The program presented works with jazz, Hip-Hop, stepping and
more. The Academy has classes at Hayti Heritage Center.
U.S. Winning the 'War on Poverty’
By Jazelle Hunt
NNPA Washington Correspondent
WASHINGTON (NNPA) - Nearly 50 years after Presi
dent Lyndon B. Johnson declared war on poverty, a new
report finds that robust social safety net programs are
slowly leading the nation to victory.
According to the report. “Trends in Poverty With an
Anchored Supplemental Poverty Measure." the poverty
rate has dropped 40 percent since 1967. as a result of pro
visions such as housing vouchers, free school lunch un-
employmenCbqnefits. Social Security, food stamps, and
more. Without these programs, the researchers find, the
percentage of Americans living in poverty would be twice
as high. »\.
’Wir rese arch tells us that these programs are impor-
tanti^ families struggling to put food on the table and
find (Adequate shelter." says study co-author Christopher
Wimer, a research scientist at the Columbia Population
Research Center. “For a family of four our measure puts
the poverty threshold higher at about $25,000 a year,
which is not gor^g to go so far."
The Census Bureau introduced the official poverty
measure (OPM) in 1963 to aid in distributing federal aid.
At that time it was based on income and the cost of food.
Today, the measure is based on a family’s size, cash in
come. and ages of its members.
The study’s authors say that it’s an outdated and in
sufficient measure - not only are there non-cash types of
income (such as food stamps or housing subsidies), but
also the OPM excludes tax burden, and only considers
families linked by blood, marriage, or adoption (same-
sex partners or cohabiting couples with children, for ex
ample. do not count as family).
It seems the Census Bureau picked up on these defi
ciencies: in 2010 it introduced the supplemental poverty
measure (SPM). This measure uses an improved thresh
old. a more inclusive tally of a family’s expenses and re
sources. and a broader definition of “family.”
Although the SPM is only intended for research use
(the OPM is still used for federal spending), the authors
contend that it offers a better picture of American poverty.
According to the OPM. the poverty threshold is around
$23,000. and has been since the late ‘90s. The SPM of
fers a higher threshold, largely because it reflects changes
in cost of living more acutely - and it also means more
people qualify as poor.
To study poverty trends over the last 45 years, the re
searchers used today’s SPM threshold and applied 2 to
American families' household data since 1967 (adjusting
for inflation). That year, tl c official poverty rate was 14
percent; and it hasn't changed much since then, linger
ing between 11 and 15 percent over 45 years of data. But
with the SPM. the poverty rate has steadily declined - in
1967 it would have been 26 percent. It's come down to 16
percent as of 2012. which means that poverty has fallen
40 percent since 1967.
The measure also reveals the impact of anti-poverty
programs and policies by examining the effect of taxes
(tax requirements, breaks, and credits) and transfers (in-
kind federal income, such as housing vouchers and free
school lunch). Without including taxes and transfers in
the SPM measure the poverty rate would have been 27
percent in 2012. In other words, tax breaks and safety net
programs have saved 13 percent of lower-middle income
Americans from poverty.
Elise Gould, an economist with think tank nonprofit.
Economic Policy Institute also believes in the potential
of this measure.
“We absolutely see that if we look at measures - even
just the OPM - that if it had not been for these economic
programs more people would be in poverty. All these pro
grams like sick days, housing vouchers, child care cred
its. help lift people out of poverty," she says. “And the
SPM is absolutely the best thing today to examine that.
Trying to recreate it back in time is a great undertaking."
The researchers also calculated SPM-based poverty
rates for the elderly, working age people, children, and
for those in deep poverty (who live on 50 percent or less
of the poverty threshold). Taxes and transfers have kept
deep poverty around five percent since the ‘70s. Without
them, that rate would be closer to 15 and 20 percent.
This study comes at a time when media spotlight has
focused on the rising tide of poverty, especially for urban
children. But this month Congress approved nearly $40
billion of cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance
Program (SNAP, or food stamps) over the next decade,
starting last month. One in seven Americans will be af
fected.
“It's not that we've solved the problems through these
programs - there's still 15 or 16 percent of the country
living in poverty under our measure.” Wimer says. “But
our research shows that programs like SNAP do a decent
job of helping families meet their food costs, which clears
room in the budget to pay rent."
Gould, who also studies economic mobility, believes
that while safety net programs are essential, they're only
half the battle.
"Government support has done an incredibly good job
in helping people, but pre-tax and pre-transfer income for
people really hasn't changed a lot." she explains. “You
have to really think of ways to increase people's income
and that usually means better wages. When the economy
is not doing a great job of serving and providing jobs for
ordinary people, the government has to step in. With both
aspects, you can do a fair amount to alleviate poverty in
this country."