Brookings Event on the Supplemental Poverty Measure

On May 6th the Brookings Institution is holding an event to discuss the new supplemental poverty measure. Rebecca Blank, Undersecretary of Commerce for Economic Affairs, will give the opening remarks. The panelists, including, among others, the Brookings Institution’s Ron Haskins, Timothy Smeeding of the University of Wisconsin and the director of the Institute for Research on Poverty, and David Johnson from the Census Bureau, will offer their thoughts on the new supplemental measure.

The current poverty measure has been criticized for not fully taking into account a families’ “real” income because it doesn’t consider government benefits provided to families like housing and supplemental nutrition assistance (food stamps). The current measure is also thought to set an unreasonably low threshold for which to measure poverty by not realistically accounting for the cost of living.

The event will be held in Falk Auditorium on Thursday May, 6th from 9:00- 11:30am. For interested parties that cannot attend the event, a transcript, full audio, and event materials will be posted on the event website.

To register for the event.

To learn more about the new supplemental poverty measure.

To read our blog post on the supplemental poverty measure.