NAS-revised Census Bureau stats: almost 1 in 6 U.S. residents in poverty (+Hope Yen lies)

The Census Bureau has released new poverty statistics that may show even more U.S. residents are below the poverty line than previously thought. The new statistics - which are more "experimental" figures and not the official figures - show that almost 1 in 6 U.S. residents are below the poverty line.

If you've been following our coverage of this issue, you know that lying about these statistics is a favorite pastime of folks like Barack Obama; in the past he's said that there are 47 million Americans without healthcare insurance, a figure that he revised downward after it became clear to others that millions of the first number were foreign citizens in various immigration statuses. And, in this case, Hope Yen of the Associated Press is lying too (link). What she calls "Americans" are actually U.S. residents; not all are U.S. citizens:

A revised formula for calculating medical costs and geographic variations show that approximately 47.4 million Americans last year lived in poverty, 7 million more than the government's official figure.

The disparity occurs because of differing formulas the Census Bureau and the National Academy of Science use for calculating the poverty rate. The NAS formula shows the poverty rate to be at 15.8 percent, or nearly 1 in 6 Americans, according to calculations released this week. That's higher than the 13.2 percent, or 39.8 million, figure made available recently under the original government formula.

That measure, created in 1955, does not factor in rising medical care, transportation, child care or geographical variations in living costs. Nor does it consider non-cash government aid when calculating income. As a result, official figures released last month by Census may have overlooked millions of poor people, many of them 65 and older.

You can access the official figures from census.gov/hhes/www/poverty/poverty08.html and the revised figures from census.gov/hhes/www/povmeas/tables.html. Note that the NAS - unlike the Census Bureau - did not break out their figures by nativity. Whether that was an intentional attempt to mislead isn't known, but if you see anyone else talking about these figures make sure they distinguish between U.S. citizens and foreign citizens.

And, when you see someone mentioning these statistics, make sure they mention immigration's role in helping bring them about. If they don't, call them on it.

Tue, 10/20/2009 - 14:22 · · Importance: 5