The Supplemental Poverty Measure: 101 and Behind the Scenes
The U.S. Census Bureau plans to develop a supplemental poverty measure based on recommendations made by the National Academy of Sciences. The new measure, to be released in the fall of 2011, will be used alongside the current poverty measure and will provide a better determination of whether a family has enough resources to meet its most basic needs. On April 14 and April 21, 2010, the Half in Ten Campaign and its coalition partners hosted a two-part free webinar series that provided subscribers with a thorough review of the supplemental poverty measure.
Part One-A Supplemental Poverty Measure: What it Will and Won’t Do (slides and audio)
This webinar shed light on why we will benefit from a new poverty measure as well as how the supplemental poverty measure compares to the official poverty measure. Participants also heard how the poverty threshold for each measure will differ and what role Congress will play.
Part Two-Behind the Scenes: Adopting a Supplemental Poverty Measure (slides and audio)
This webinar provided insight from these experts into the administration’s key issues and allowed participants to learn how the process of developing a supplemental poverty measure will work. During the webinar, participants found out why the supplemental poverty measure has already gotten support from across the political spectrum and why it deserves even more support. Participants also learned about state and local efforts to adopt more accurate measures of poverty.
Participants in Part One:
Moderator Michael Laracy Annie E. Casey Foundation
Speakers Arloc Sherman Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
Indivar Dutta-Gupta House Committee on Ways and Means Subcommittee on Income Security and Family Support
Annette Case Strategies to Eliminate Poverty Participants in Part Two:
Moderator Clifford Johnson National League of Cities
Speakers Rebecca M. Blank Undersecretary of Commerce for Economic Affairs
Ron Haskins Brookings Institution
Mark Levitan New York City Center for Economic Opportunity
This webinar series is co-sponsored by the Half in Ten Campaign, the Brookings Center on Children and Families, the New America Foundation, the National League of Cities, and Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity.