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Measuring Poverty Using Both Income and Wealth

Author

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  • Jay L. Zagorsky

Abstract

Since official U.S. poverty measures are based solely on income, the amount of wealth held by a family is immaterial in determining their poverty status. This research expands the poverty definition to encompass a family’s total financial resources. While most income-poor families have little or no wealth, approximately one-third have significant holdings. Using total financial resources both lowers average U.S. poverty rates over selected years from 15.2% of all families to a range between 8.8% and 11.3% and provides a measurement tool for tracking the effects of government wealth-building programs on families under the poverty line.

Suggested Citation

  • Jay L. Zagorsky, 2005. "Measuring Poverty Using Both Income and Wealth," Journal of Income Distribution, Ad libros publications inc., vol. 13(3-4), pages 2-2, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:jid:journl:y:2005:v:13:i:3-4:p:2-2
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    File URL: http://jid.journals.yorku.ca/index.php/jid/article/view/1306
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. David Gallusser & Matthias Krapf, 2022. "Joint Income-Wealth Inequality: Evidence from Lucerne Tax Data," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 163(1), pages 251-295, August.
    2. Francisco Azpitarte, 2011. "Measurement and identification of asset-poor households: a cross-national comparison of Spain and the United Kingdom," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 9(1), pages 87-110, March.
    3. Sarah Kuypers & Ive Marx, 2018. "Estimation of Joint Income-Wealth Poverty: A Sensitivity Analysis," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 136(1), pages 117-137, February.
    4. Lih-Shing Chan & Kee-Lee Chou, 2018. "A Survey of Asset Poverty Among Older Adults of Hong Kong," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 138(2), pages 605-622, July.
    5. Kuypers, Sarah & Marx, Ive, 2016. "Estimation of Joint Income? Wealth Poverty: A Sensitivity Analysis," IZA Discussion Papers 10391, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    6. Francisco Azpitarte, 2010. "Measuring poverty using both income and wealth: A cross-country comparison between the U.S. and Spain," Working Papers 153, ECINEQ, Society for the Study of Economic Inequality.
    7. Jun-Hong Chen & Chi-Fang Wu & Minchao Jin, 2023. "How are Income and Assets Associated with Food Insecurity? An Application of the Growth Mixture Modeling," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 165(3), pages 959-973, February.
    8. Francisco Azpitarte, 2014. "Measuring Poverty using both Income and Wealth: A Cross-Country Comparison between the U.S. and Spain," LWS Working papers 18, LIS Cross-National Data Center in Luxembourg.
    9. Francisco Azpitarte, 2008. "Measurement and Identification of Asset-Poor Households: A Cross-National Comparison of Spain and the United Kingdom," Working Papers 105, ECINEQ, Society for the Study of Economic Inequality.
    10. Francisco Azpitarte, 2014. "Measurement and Identification of Asset-Poor Households: A Cross-National Comparison of Spain and the United Kingdom," LWS Working papers 17, LIS Cross-National Data Center in Luxembourg.
    11. Jun-Hong Chen & Chieh-Hsun Huang & Chi-Fang Wu & Melissa Jonson-Reid & Brett Drake, 2024. "The Application of Family Stress Model to Investigating Adolescent Problematic Behaviors: The Moderating Role of Assets," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 45(1), pages 174-183, March.
    12. Netta Achdut & Lea Achdut, 2022. "Joint Income-Wealth Poverty in a Cross-National Perspective: The Role of Country-Level Indicators," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 164(1), pages 499-541, November.

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