According to the U.s. Census Bureau, What Is the Poverty Threshold for a Family of Four in America?

Official Poverty Measure

The Census Bureau determines poverty condition by using an official poverty measure (OPM) that compares pre-tax cash income against a threshold that is set at three times the cost of a minimum nutrient diet in 1963 and adjusted for family unit size.

The OPM uses calculations of these 3 elements—income, threshold, and family—to estimate what percentage of the population is poor.

The official poverty estimates are drawn from the Electric current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplement (CPS ASEC), which is conducted in February, March, and Apr with a sample of approximately 100,000 addresses per twelvemonth.

In 2016, the nearly recent year for which information are bachelor, the OPM national poverty charge per unit was 12.7 percent. There were xl.6 million people in poverty.

Supplemental Poverty Measure

The Census Bureau introduced the Supplemental Poverty Mensurate or SPM in 2010 to provide an culling view of poverty in the U.s.a. that better reflects life in the 21st century, including contemporary social and economic realities and government policy.

Equally its name suggests, the SPM supplements only does not replace the official poverty measure, which remains the nation's source for official poverty statistics and for determining ways-tested programme eligibility.

In a side-by-side comparison of the official poverty mensurate and the SPM, the Demography Bureau notes their differences in measurement units, poverty threshold, threshold adjustments (eastward.g., by family size), updating thresholds, and what counts as resource, summarized in Tabular array three below.

Table 3. Poverty measure concepts differ between the official poverty measure and the Supplemental Poverty Measure.
Poverty Measure Component	Official Poverty Measure out	Supplemental Poverty Measure
Measurement Units	Families (see note) or unrelated individuals	Resource units (official family definition plus whatever coresident unrelated children, foster children, and unmarried partners and their relatives) or unrelated individuals (who are non otherwise included in the family unit definition)
Poverty Threshold	Three times the cost of a minimum food nutrition in 1963	Based on expenditures of nutrient, clothing, shelter, and utilities (FCSU)
Threshold Adjustments	Vary past family size, limerick, and age of householder	Vary past family size and limerick, as well as geographic adjustments for differences in housing costs by tenure
Updating Thresholds	Consumer Price Alphabetize: All items	Five-year moving average of expenditures on FCSU
Resource Measure	Gross before-tax greenbacks income	Sum of cash income, plus noncash benefits that resources units can use to meet their FCSU needs, minus taxes (or plus tax credits), minus work expenses, medical expenses, and kid support paid to another household

Source: Fifty. Pull a fast one on, "The Supplemental Poverty Measure out: 2016," Current Population Reports P60-261 (RV), Revised September 2017.

Note: "Family" as defined by the Census Bureau is "a group of 2 people or more (one of whom is the householder) related by nascency, marriage, or adoption and residing together; all such people (including related subfamily members) are considered every bit members of 1 family."

A comparing of official and SPM poverty rates in 2016 for the total population and amongst three age groups: under historic period 18, adults ages 18 to 64, and elders age 65 and over, is shown in Figure two.

For most groups, SPM poverty rates were higher than official poverty rates; children are an exception with 15.2 percent poor using the SPM and eighteen.0 per centum poor using the official measure. Analysts attribute the lower SPM child poverty rate largely to the mensurate's inclusion of noncash benefits such as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly Nutrient Stamps) benefits.

The much college SPM poverty rates for people age 65 and older—xiv.5 per centum vs. 9.3 percent using the OPM—partially reflect that the official thresholds are prepare lower for families with householders in this age grouping, while the SPM thresholds do not vary by age.

In addition, the SPM charge per unit is higher for people age 65 and older because it includes out-of-pocket medical expenditures, which are typically high for the elderly, whereas the official measure does not take them into account.

Figure two. Poverty rates using OPM and SPM measures for total population and past age grouping, 2016, prove a higher OPM child poverty rate and higher SPM elderly poverty rates.

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Source: https://www.irp.wisc.edu/resources/how-is-poverty-measured/