The Research 

Supplemental Poverty Measure

Webinar on SPM release

Technical Background

November 4, 2011
Host Stanley J. Rolark

Chief, Public Information Office

U.S. Census Bureau

Methodology Kathleen Short

Research Economist

U.S. Census Bureau

Thesia I. Garner

Research Economist

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Presenters

2
Resources for Today’s News

Conference

Come to www.census.gov and click 

on Newsroom at the top left corner 

to obtain –

• Today’s PowerPoint Presentation

• Background material on the 

Supplemental Poverty Measure

3
Topics

• Background

• Overview of poverty measurement concepts

• Official compared with Supplemental Poverty 

Measure (SPM)

– Poverty thresholds

– Resources available to meet needs

• SPM estimates for 2009 previously released 

(revised)

– Poverty rates

– Distribution of poverty population across groups

– Effects of taxes and in-kind benefits

– Resource-to-poverty threshold ratios

4
Official Poverty 

Measure •First adopted in 1969 •Continues under OMB 

Statistical Directive 14 •The 2010 official poverty 

rate for the nation was 15.1 

percent •Up from 14.3 percent in 

2009 •46.2 million people in 

poverty •An increase of 2.6 million 

since 2009.

5
May 1995 report, Measuring Poverty: A New Approach

The official measure does not account for

•Provision of in-kind benefits

•Necessary expenses (taxes, health care, work)

•Changes in family or household structure

•Higher standards and levels of living since 1965

•Geographic price differences among regions

Recommended Changes to Improve the Measure of 

Poverty in the U.S.

National Academy of Sciences

Panel on Poverty and Family Assistance

6
7

Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM)

Observations from the Interagency Technical 

Working Group - March 2, 2010

– Will not replace the official poverty measure

– Will not be used for resource allocation or program eligibility

– Census Bureau and BLS responsible for improving and 

updating the measure

– Continued research and improvement

– Based on NAS panel 1995 recommendations

7
Poverty Threshold and Resources

8
9

Comparing the Official Measure and SPM

Threshold Concept

Official Measure

 Cost of a minimum food basket

 Food expenditures as a percentage 

of after-tax money income: 1/3rd

 Families of three or more persons

 1955 Food Consumption Survey

 1963 as base

 Updated each year with the CPI

 33rd percentile of sum of 

expenditures for food, clothing, and 

shelter, and utilities (FCSU)

 Consumer units with 2 children and 

any number of adults

 Consumer Expenditure Interview 

Survey (CE)

 Most recent 5 years of CE data 

 Updated each year with most recent 

5 years of data

Supplemental Measure
Threshold Adjustments: 

by Shelter Type

10

Official

 No adjustments

Supplemental

 Adjust by differences in 

shelter expenditures by

renters 

owners with a 

mortgage

owners without a 

mortgage
11

Official and Research SPM Thresholds for 

2 Adults and 2 Children Economic Units: 2009

$21,756

$23,854 $24,450

$20,298

$23,874

$0

$5,000

$10,000

$15,000

$20,000

$25,000

$30,000

Official Overall Owners with

mortgages

Owners without

mortgages

Renters

11
12

Economic Unit of Analysis

Official

 All related individuals who 

live at the same address

Supplemental

 All related individuals who 

live at the same address

 Coresident unrelated 

children who are cared 

for by the family (such as 

foster children)

 Cohabitors and their 

relatives
13

Threshold Adjustments:

by geographic area

Official

 No adjustments

Supplemental

 Adjust for housing cost 

differences using five years of 

ACS data on rental costs

 Make adjustments by MSA and 

non-MSAs in each state
Family Resource Definition

Official

• Gross (before-tax) cash 

income from all sources

Supplemental

Gross cash income: 

• PLUS value of near-money 

federal in-kind benefits for 

FCSU (Includes tax credits)

• MINUS income and payroll 

taxes and other 

nondiscretionary expenses

14 14
Benefits included

• Cash benefits in the official measure and SPM

– Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF)

– Social Security

– Supplemental Security Income

– Unemployment Insurance

• In-kind benefits only in the SPM

– Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP)

– National School Lunch Program

– Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women Infants and 

Children (WIC)

– Low Income Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP)

– Housing subsidies

15
Nondiscretionary Expenses

Payroll and state and federal 

income taxes

• New CPS ASEC questions on 

child care expenses paid

• SIPP for other expenses

Medical Out of Pocket 

Expenditures (MOOP)

• New CPS ASEC questions

• New CPS ASEC questions to 

subtract child support paid 

from income

16

Child Support Paid

• Current methods to calculate 

federal and state income tax, 

payroll tax

• Tax credits 

Child care and other work 

related expenses

16
17

0.0

100.0

200.0

300.0

400.0

500.0

600.0

700.0

800.0

900.0

1,000.0

billions$

Aggregate Additions and Subtractions for All SPM Family 

Groups: 2009 

Additions

Subtractions
18

0.0

5.0

10.0

15.0

20.0

25.0

30.0

billions$

Aggregate Additions and Subtractions for Poor SPM Groups: 

2009 

Additions

Subtractions
19

All People Under 18 years 18 to 64 years 65 years and older

Official** 14.5 21.2 12.9 8.9

SPM 15.3 17.3 14.4 15.5

0.0

5.0

10.0

15.0

20.0

25.0

Percent 

Poverty rates for all people and by age group: 2009

**Includes unrelated individuals under age 15.

Source: Current Population Survey, 2010 Annual Social and Economic Supplement.

19
 White, not Hispanic Black Asian Hispanic (any race)

Official** 9.5 25.9 12.5 25.4

SPM 10.5 23.4 18.0 27.6

0.0

5.0

10.0

15.0

20.0

25.0

30.0

Percent

Poverty rates by race and ethnicity: 2009

**Includes unrelated individuals under age 15.

Source: Current Population Survey, 2010 Annual Social and Economic Supplement.

20
21

24.7

36.1

27.9

62.6

56.1

59.3

12.7

7.8

12.9

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Total

Official**

SPM

Composition of total and poverty populations by age group: 

2009

Under 18

years

18 to 64 years

65 years and

older

** Includes unrelated individuals under age 15

Source: Current Population Survey, 2010 Annual Social and Economic Supplement.
32.2

41.8

41.4

52.1

40.0

44.7

15.7

18.2

13.9

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Total

Official**

SPM

Composition of total and poverty populations by residence: 

2009

 Inside

principal cities

 Outside

principal cities

Outside MSAs

** Includes unrelated individuals under age 15

Source: Current Population Survey, 2010 Annual Social and Economic Supplement.

22
18.0

15.3

16.1

21.7

20.2

17.2

36.9

40.3

38.1

23.4

24.2

28.6

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Total

Official**

SPM

Composition of total and poverty populations by region: 2009

Northeast

Midwest

South

West

** Includes unrelated individuals under age 15

Source: Current Population Survey, 2010 Annual Social and Economic Supplement.

23
EITC SNAP Hsg

subsidy

School

lunch WIC LIHEAP Childsupport

Fed. Tax

before

Credits

FICA Work

expense

MOOP

-1.9 -1.5 -0.9 -0.4 -0.1 -0.1 0.1 0.4 1.4 1.6 3.3

-3.0

-2.0

-1.0

0.0

1.0

2.0

3.0

4.0

Percentage point difference

Difference in SPM rate after including each element: 2009 

Source: Current Population Survey, 2010 Annual Social and Economic Supplement.

24
25

EITC SNAP Hsg

subsidy

School

lunch WIC LIHEAP Childsupport

Fed. Tax

before

Credits

FICA Work

expense

MOOP

Under 18 years -4.0 -2.8 -1.3 -0.8 -0.2 0.0 0.2 0.4 2.0 2.2 2.9

65 years and older -0.1 -0.6 -1.1 0.0 0.0 -0.1 0.0 0.2 0.3 0.3 7.0

-6.0

-4.0

-2.0

0.0

2.0

4.0

6.0

8.0

Difference in SPM rate after including each element for 

two age groups: 2009 

Source: Current Population Survey, 2010 Annual Social and Economic Supplement.
26

6.4 5.1

8.1 10.1

18.7

31.5

30.7

36.0

36.2

17.3

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Official** SPM

Distribution of People by Ratio of Income/Resources to 

Poverty Threshold: 2009

4 or more

2.0 to 3.99

1.0 to 1.99

0.5 to 0.99

less than 0.5

** Includes unrelated indiviuals under age 15.

Source: Current Population Survey, 2010 Annual Social and Economic 
27

9.8

4.9

11.4

12.2

21.4

38.4

30.2

33.7

27.2

10.7

0.0

10.0

20.0

30.0

40.0

50.0

60.0

70.0

80.0

90.0

100.0

Official** SPM

Distribution of People Under Age 18 

by Ratio of Income/Resources to Poverty Threshold: 2009

4 or more

2.0 to 3.99

1.0 to 1.99

0.5 to 0.99

less than 0.5

** Includes unrelated indiviuals under age 15.

Source: Current Population Survey, 2010 Annual Social and Economic Supplement.
28

2.6 5.6

6.3

10.2

24.8

31.6

35.1

34.0

31.2

18.7

0.0

10.0

20.0

30.0

40.0

50.0

60.0

70.0

80.0

90.0

100.0

Official** SPM

Distribution of People 65 Years of Age and Over 

by Ratio of Income/Resources to Poverty Threshold: 2009

4 or more

2.0 to 3.99

1.0 to 1.99

0.5 to 0.99

less than 0.5

** Includes unrelated indiviuals under age 15.

Source: Current Population Survey, 2010 Annual Social and Economic 

28
29

Summary

• SPM rates were higher than official poverty rates in 

2009, overall, and for most groups 

• However, a few groups had lower rates 

• Resource-to-poverty threshold ratio categories more 

concentrated in middle groups 

• Percent of the population in “extreme poverty” is 

lower for most groups examined
Next Steps

• Continue research on elements of the SPM

– Measurement of the poverty thresholds 

– Geographic adjustments

– Collection of data on the receipt of in-kind benefits and 

necessary expenses, such as medical and commuting expenses 

– Adjustments for under-reporting of benefits, expenses, and the 

sources of cash income 

• Consider production of public use micro data files

• Consider earlier release date

30
31
32
Questions?

33
SPM 2010

• We will be releasing new SPM estimates 

for 2010 on Monday, November 7, 2011.

34
Upcoming Releases from the U.S. 

Census Bureau

• 11/7- Supplemental Poverty Measure 

Research: 2010 Data to be released at 

the Brookings Institution

• Mid-November – Migration Data Products

• Late November – Older Population: 2010

35
Contact Information

U.S. Census Bureau

Public Information Office

Phone: 301.763.3030

www.census.gov

pio@census.gov

36