Poverty Resources

Poverty Resources

Poverty Resources

Poverty Measures:

Three ways of measuring poverty include the federal poverty measure, the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) measure, and the relative measure used in Europe. The federal poverty measure and NAS refer to a specific or “absolute” amount, or line, below which income falls. The relative poverty measure considers income relative to what the majority of households makestated as a percentage, such as 50% of the median. The U.S. looks at poverty from a subsistence view and the relative measure looks from an equity standpoint.

Sarah Fass, National Center for Children in Poverty, Malman School of Public Health, Columbia University (2009, April), in“Fact Sheet: Measuring Poverty in the United States,” reports:

Congress asked the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) to investigate alternative measures. The NAS panel of experts issued a report in 1995 that recommended revising the poverty level and the method of determining which families are poor.3The panel’s recommendations included the following:

  • Create new poverty thresholds that more accurately reflect the cost of food, clothing, and shelter.
  • Adjust thresholds by region to account for variation in the cost of living.
  • When counting families’ resources to determine whether they fall below the poverty line:
  • use families’ post-tax income;
  • include earned income tax credits and the value of near-cash benefits (such as food stamps and housing assistance); and
  • subtract the cost of work- related expenses (such as child care and transportation) and medical care.

If the NAS recommendations were adopted, millions more people would be considered officially poor. But even these recommendations underestimate the cost of family expenses

Retrieved from

International:

The United Nations’ Statistics Division provides information links on income and poverty at:

It includes links to information about progress to the SustainableDevelopment Goals (SDGs) Indicators, which ended in 2015. TheWorld Bankoffers an Atlas to the Sustainable Development Goals 2017at: TheInternational Labor Organization ( offers an overview and topics concerning labor statistics.

The World Health Organization (WHO) provides data and statistics regarding global health monitoring; go to: It includes data for specific countries.

UNICEF, the United Nations Children’s Fund, contains information on “focus areas”( as well as links from its areas of work (

Continued

U.S.:

The U.S. Census Bureau ( has income and poverty information available in the Topics tab. American FactFinder ( has information by state, county, city, town, or zip code. For the 2017 Federal Poverty Level, see:

E.g., for the contiguous 48 states, the 2017 Federal Poverty Level for a family of four is $24,600

The video series, Unnatural Causes ... is inequality making us sick? (California Newsreel, 2008), explores racial and socioeconomic barriers to health. Clips may be viewed at: It is in Lindell Library (

For health data and statistics, including risk factors and health indicators as well as information by state, territory, or tribe, check the Centers for Disease Control and Preventionwebsite at:

Minnesota or Specific State:

MN Compass ( which is led by Wilder Research ( is an excellent resource for Minnesota Statistics concerning poverty. Children’s Defense Fund—Minnesota’s Library ( has numerous reports concerning poverty in Minnesota as it relates to children.

For data regarding children who are living at a disadvantage, see The Annie E. Casey Foundation’s KIDS COUNT Data Center at: For state data on children and a link to census data (most recent data: 2007), go to the Children’s Defense Fund’s Research Library at:

City:

Visit your local food shelf/ves. Ask who the food shelf serves (e.g. region or area; single adults, teens, families with children, and/or people who are elderly; people of color and/or people who are white; recent immigrants and/or people who are long-time residents; people who are working, people who are unemployed, and/or people who have disabilities; etc.). Ask about trends in use, number served, and needs. Listen to the clients’ stories and self-identified needs.

For information about population, income, race, housing, education, employment, age, etc. for a town or city seeCity-Data.com at:

As a measure of poverty, check the number of students who are eligible for free and reduced price school meals. You can request this information from a school district directly or access the state’s department of education website For further information, see the United States Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service website at:

Compiled 6/23-24/2012; expanded 7/2/2012; updated 5/26/2014; updated and revised 10/13/2017

by Mary Simonson Clark, MA/MSW, LGSW

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