NYC Changes its Definition of Poor

Today, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg unveiled a new poverty measure that paints a more accurate picture of the number of people living in poverty in the Big Apple.

This new evaluation includes tax credits and other government benefits that individuals receive and adjusts for variations in living expenses by geography. Using the federal poverty level 19 percent of New Yorkers are poor. The new formula shows that 23 percent of city residents live below poverty.

The current federal poverty measure, created in the 1960s, was based on research that showed families spent one-third of their incomes on food. According to the National Center for Children in Poverty, food now comprises only one-seventh of the average family’s expenses, creating a poverty measure that leaves out the growing costs of housing, child care, health care and transportation - all key expenses for supporting a family.

For years, folks in Washington have debated how to update the way we measure the number of people living in poverty. If our states and localities are truly the laboratories of democracy watch for this change in New York City to drive discussions at the federal level.

Bloomberg said it best, “If we are to be serious about fighting poverty, we also have to start getting serious about measuring it.”