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Consumption and Economic Well-Being at Older Ages: Income- and Consumption-Based Poverty Measures in the HRS

Author

Listed:
  • Michael Hurd

    (RAND and NBER)

  • Susann Rohwedder

    (RAND)

Abstract

According to economic theory, well-being or utility depends on consumption. However, at the household level, total consumption is rarely well measured because its collection requires a great deal of survey time. As a result income has been widely used to assess well-being and poverty rates. Yet, because households can use wealth to consume more than income, so an income-based measure of well-being could yield misleading results for many households. We use data from the Health and Retirement Study to find income-based poverty rates which we compare with poverty rates as measured in the Current Population Survey. We use HRS consumption data to calculate a consumption-based poverty rate and study the relationship between income-based and consumption-based poverty measures. We find that a poverty rate based on consumption is lower than an income-based poverty rate. Particularly noteworthy is the much lower rate among the oldest single persons such as widows. The explanation for the difference is the ability to consume out of wealth.

Suggested Citation

  • Michael Hurd & Susann Rohwedder, 2006. "Consumption and Economic Well-Being at Older Ages: Income- and Consumption-Based Poverty Measures in the HRS," Working Papers wp110, University of Michigan, Michigan Retirement Research Center.
    • Handle: RePEc:mrr:papers:wp110
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Guilherme Fonseca Travassos & Alexandre Bragança Coelho & Mary Paula Arends-Kuenning, 2022. "Poverty Among The Elderly: An Application of a Collective Consumption Model in Brazil," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 163(2), pages 925-951, September.
    2. Flood, Lennart & Klevmarken, Anders & Mitrut, Andreea, 2006. "The income of the Swedish baby boomers," Working Papers in Economics 209, University of Gothenburg, Department of Economics.
    3. Cherchye, Laurens & De Rock, Bram & Vermeulen, Frederic, 2012. "Economic well-being and poverty among the elderly: An analysis based on a collective consumption model," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 56(6), pages 985-1000.
    4. Giulia Bettin & Claudia Pigini & Alberto Zazzaro, 2020. "Financial Inclusion and Poverty Transitions: An Empirical Analysis for Italy," CSEF Working Papers 577, Centre for Studies in Economics and Finance (CSEF), University of Naples, Italy.
    5. Yoko Niimi & Charles Yuji Horioka, 2023. "Elderly poverty and its measurement," Chapters, in: Jacques Silber (ed.), Research Handbook on Measuring Poverty and Deprivation, chapter 29, pages 307-315, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    6. Hoffmann, Rasmus, 2011. "Socioeconomic inequalities in old-age mortality: A comparison of Denmark and the USA," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 72(12), pages 1986-1992, June.
    7. Jones, Carol Adaire & Milkove, Daniel & Paszkiewicz, Laura, 2010. "Farm Household Well-Being: Comparing Consumption- and Income-Based Measures," Economic Research Report 58299, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    8. Klasen, Stephan & Villalobos, Carlos, 2020. "Diverging identification of the poor: A non-random process. Chile 1992–2017," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 130(C).
    9. Michael D. Hurd & Susann Rohwedder, 2010. "The Effects of the Economic Crisis on the Older Population," Working Papers wp231, University of Michigan, Michigan Retirement Research Center.
    10. Jurgen Faik & Uwe Fachinger, 2013. "The decomposition of well-being categories: An application to Germany," Working Papers 307, ECINEQ, Society for the Study of Economic Inequality.
    11. Christopher House & John Laitner & Dmitriy Stolyarov, 2006. "Home Production by Dual Earner Couples and Consumption During Retirement," Working Papers wp143, University of Michigan, Michigan Retirement Research Center.

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