Measuring Poverty In The United States Essay

Reading the article on “Measuring Poverty in the United States” it shows how poverty is calculated in America; I believe the system works to in extent. The government measure poverty by a specific dollar amount that varies by families in the U.S. Its telling us how much money is in a person family or household. According to the guidelines a poverty level of a family of four is 21,200, and a family for three is 17,600 in America. The guidelines are used to establish public programs and poverty rates. Research indicates that families spend their incomes on food, which helps poverty level multiply the food cost for the family. This idea of calculating by the number of people that is in a household and how much money they spend on food is a good way to determine poverty, but to an extent because the government fails to calculate other expenses. They’re other expenses that families spend their income on like transportation, housing, clothing, childcare, and taxes. Looking at the federal poverty guidelines I feel that the rate is not accurate because they did not calculate other expenses rather than food. …show more content…
Ways they can change is by performing other methods to measure income poverty. The National Academy of Science (NAS) issued a report that recommended revising the poverty level and method of determining which families are poor. The NAS made a lot of good suggestions on how to measure poverty accurately. There was a few that stuck out to me the cost of food, clothing, and shelter is very important expenses that a family spend their income on, and should be calculated into the guidelines. Also where the family is living should be accounted for because different areas cost more or less. When determining if a family falls below the poverty line they should include Welfare and taxes