When the Census Bureau this month released a new measure of poverty, meant to better count disposable income, it began altering the portrait of national need.
The new method, called the Supplemental Poverty Measure, was designed to add in many of the things the old measure ignored, like the hundreds of billions the needy receive in food stamps and tax credits. At the same time, it subtracted the similarly large sums lost to taxes, medical care and work expenses.
One surprising difference with the new measure, outlined in an article, was the 51 million people with incomes less than 50 % above the poverty line. That category, sometimes called ?near poor,? was 76% higher than the official account, which was published in September. (The portion of people under the poverty line, meanwhile, increased by just 5% in the new measure.)
About a fifth of the people who appear near poor in the new measure are lifted out of poverty by benefits the old measure ignores, like food stamps and tax credits. But more than half were pulled down into near poverty from higher income levels by taxes, medical costs and work expenses like child care and gas. Taken together with people under the poverty line, a full third of Americans live in poverty or in the economically vulnerable area just above it.
In Washington and its suburbs, the near poor are people with incomes between $31,693 and $47,539 for a family of four with a mortgage. Reporters talked to people in the Washington area this week with incomes in this category. They spoke of the knife-edge quality of their lives, in which one unexpected bill could knock them off balance. Many owned the usual trappings of middle-class life ? cars, houses, cellphones and air-conditioners. But payments on those possessions were juggled, often unsuccessfully, depending on the unpredictable tides of their incomes. None saw themselves as poor. Most saw themselves as part of the middle class. But they focused on how hard they had to struggle to remain there.
Debra Jeje earned about $31,000 last year as a secretary in an emergency room in Washington. She struggles to pay her bills, which come to about $2,300 a month, including groceries. She sells Mary Kay make-up for extra income. Gas, health insurance premiums and taxes put Jeje just above poverty line.
?What stresses me out most is payday,? said Jeje, who is 50 and has one son living with her. ?I don?t have any extra money left. My salary is less than my bills.? Her job, she said, pays too little. ?We?re on the front lines,? she said. ?There?s stress and headaches and ups and downs in the emergency room. You really feel that you?re worth more.?
Bille Allison, a health care worker with two children, earns $39,000 a year drawing blood at a doctor?s office in Maryland. She qualified for the earned income tax credit last year, bringing her income to $42,000. But work expenses dragged her down. She pays $500 a month for day care for her 4-year-old daughter, $100 a month for bus and train fare to get to work, and $200 a month for health insurance ? bringing her income down to about $32,000. Some months she is able to save enough for game tokens and a meal at Chuck E Cheese for her daughter. Other months she can only afford to pay half her bills. She was turned away from the food stamps office because her income was too high. ?I tried everything, and it?s like, nope, you make too much,? said Allison. ?They tell you you have to work to get help, but then you work, and you still can?t get help.?
Jessie Adams, a floor refinisher and his wife, a secretary, together earn about $49,000 ? too much to qualify for the earned income tax credit and food stamps, but too little to live without worrying about finances. Taxes and monthly subway commuting costs bring them down into the area of near poor. They own electronics ? two flat-screen TVs and an Xbox game console for their 10-year-old ? but cannot afford a car or a down payment on a house. Adams has not taken his family out on a weekend for five months.
?It shouldn?t be like this,? he said. ?Two people working full time in the house, we should be able to save, to take a vacation. But it ain?t like that. It just ain?t like that.?