After many years of following similar trends, U.S. poverty rates measured by household spending in data from the U.S. Consumer Expenditure Survey (CE) fell between 2000 and 2008, while poverty measured by income rose. Comparisons of spending and income poverty in the CE with income poverty in...

Although foster care and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families "child-only" caseloads have fallen from heights in the 1990s, detailed household relationship data from panels of the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) establish that the share of children residing with no parent...

A recent series of papers has renewed interest in the question of whether consumption data are superior to income data for poverty measurement. Although the Census Bureau has provided researchers with an experimental series of variables that can produce a comprehensive income measure, this...

Although the combined value of Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) guarantees and food stamps has been declining in real terms, national data from the March Current Population Survey show that the economic status of families with members receiving AFDC has improved since the...