The Census Bureau recently announced that the official U.S. poverty rate has fallen to its lowest level on record. Yet, this metric—which measures whether American families can afford a fixed basket of goods first defined in the 1960s—has been widely criticized for failing to reflect the rising cost of a middle-class lifestyle. Measure poverty in relative terms—as the proportion of the population with incomes 40 percent less than the median—and it’s currently at an all-time high. Such relative definitions are widely used by international organizations and scholars to disparage America’s reliance on private enterprise to improve the general welfare.
Is Poverty Relative?
Indigence stands at a record low, inequality at a historic high. Which matters more?
