Number of US "poor" reaches record high under new census formula

Experimental measure that takes geographic location into account yields highest-ever number of poor Americans
US Poverty
Record number of US "poor" measured with experimental census forumla. Photograph: Spencer Platt/Getty Images

A record number 49.1 million Americans are poor, based on a new census measure that for the first time takes into account rising medical costs and other expenses.

The numbers released Monday are part of a first-ever supplemental poverty measure aimed at providing a fuller picture of poverty. Although considered experimental, they promise to stir fresh debate over social programs to help the poor as a congressional supercommittee nears a 23 November deadline to make more than $1tn in cuts to the federal budget.

Based on the revised formula, the number of poor people exceeds the record 46.2 million, or 15.1%, that was officially reported in September.

Broken down by group, Americans 65 or older sustained the largest increases in poverty under the revised formula nearly doubling to 15.9%, or 1 in 6 because of medical expenses that are not accounted for in the official rate.



"With nearly 16% of seniors already living in poverty, our country cannot afford to slide further backward."

Working-age adults ages 18-64 saw increases in poverty from 13.7% to 15.2% due mostly to commuting and child care costs.

And for the first time, the share of Hispanics living in poverty surpassed that of African-Americans, 28.2% to 25.4%. That is due to a jump in the poverty rate for Hispanics under the new measure because of lower participation among immigrants and non-English speakers in government aid programs such as housing and food stamps.

Due to new adjustments for geographical variations in costs of living, people residing in the suburbs, the northeast and west were the regions mostly likely to have poor people.




The new measure's goal is to help lawmakers to better gauge the effectiveness of anti-poverty programs. It does not replace the Census Bureau's official poverty formula, which continues to determine eligibility and distribution of billions of dollars in federal aid for the poor.

"We're now about to go into federal debt discussions showing a major increase in elder poverty and a decrease for African-Americans. That just defies common sense, and the political implications could be devastating," said Douglas Besharov, a University of Maryland public policy professor and former scholar at the conservative American Enterprise Institute, who called the new measure "arbitrary."

"Sure, there's a lot of suffering out there, but the inexorable result of all of this is to give more ammunition to groups to prevent cuts for the elderly. That means more cuts for low-income families," he said.

Kathleen Short, a research economist at the Census Bureau, said many of the shifts in poverty reflect the large numbers of older people who hover near the poverty line after receiving cash payments for pensions. The poverty line is defined under the official measure as $11,139 for an individual, or $22,314 for a family of four.