An Updated Measure of Poverty (Re)Drawing the Line (2023) / Chapter Skim
Currently Skimming:
6 Data and Statistical Issues
6 Data and Statistical Issues
Pages 81-99
The Chapter Skim interface presents what we've algorithmically identified as the most significant single chunk of text within every page in the chapter.
Select key terms on the right to highlight them within pages of the chapter.
From page 81... ...
Appendix 6A lists the data elements available for estimating thresholds for the current SPM and the new PPM from the Consumer Expenditure Survey (CE) ;1 Appendix 6B similarly lists the availability of data elements for estimating resources from the Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplement (CPS-ASEC)
|
From page 82... ...
Yet the current data infrastructure is not ideal even for the OPM, let alone the current SPM and recommended PPM. Significant improvements are needed to advance the accuracy and detail of data underlying poverty measurement.
|
From page 83... ...
Data on income, other household resources, and expenditures that factor into the PPM are also important in the broader production of economic statistics and analyses of income and consumption inequality in the population. The data ecosystem has changed considerably over the past two decades -- in terms of both the availability and relative importance of surveys, government administrative records, and commercial data sources; and the data infrastructure for the PPM and other economic statistics should leverage new data sources where appropriate.
|
From page 84... ...
. The PPM will use much of the same CPS-ASEC data found in annual Census Bureau reports on health insurance coverage.
|
From page 85... ...
On the resource side of the SPM, estimates of housing subsidies are based on administrative data on market rents from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
|
From page 86... ...
Additionally, just as income measurement can be improved through use of administrative data, administrative and commercial data sources have been used, including by HUD, to improve the measures of housing costs in the ACS and thereby in the CPS-ASEC (e.g., property taxes, property values, and other housing characteristics)
|
From page 87... ...
* children's health insurance field follow-up (one-third program; potential to subsample on average, link addresses for part of rates vary inversely by sample to previous year response rates)
|
From page 88... ...
* The public-use file, however, includes only about 2 million households; to protect privacy the Census Bureau's ACS SPM work uses the public-use microdata sample version of the data so that non-Census Bureau researchers can use the data.
|
From page 89... ...
The use of administrative records could remedy these problems to a significant extent. • The CPS-ASEC sample size is not ideal for PPM estimates of subnational geographic areas.
|
From page 90... ...
Their analysis found evidence of a partisan cycle in survey response, but partisanship, and notably the growth of the Tea Party, did not explain the observed trend increase. Improving survey response rates, or at least stemming the growth in nonresponse, is and should continue to be a high priority for the Census Bureau.
|
From page 91... ...
While explicit recommendations for improving response rates in the CPS-ASEC are beyond the scope of this report, the panel notes that long-running household panels like the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) have item nonresponse rates on earnings that are about one-third the level found in the CPS-ASEC.
|
From page 92... ...
. Substantial and Increased Underreporting of Transfer Income When comparing survey aggregate amounts to administrative records, substantial and increased underreporting of transfer income is well documented for many sources (see, e.g., Meyer et al., 2009, 2015)
|
From page 93... ...
, which, in turn, may distort estimates of poverty, unemployment, and other measures of household wellbeing.19 6.4. ADMINISTRATIVE DATA FOR IMPROVING INCOME ESTIMATES Administrative records have a long history of use within household survey methodology, to provide control totals for weighting adjustments.
|
From page 94... ...
estimates for use by counties and school districts in allocating funds to schools serving populations with low incomes.20 Perhaps most crucial in the context of the PPM, administrative records offer the opportunity to considerably improve the accuracy of income estimates. To help offset inaccuracies in measurement of earnings due to nonresponse and underreporting of transfers, researchers have pursued linkages to administrative records, facilitated thorough cooperation with various agencies, and accessed via secure research data centers.
|
From page 95... ...
IRS form Public Assistance States: DHHS: TANF Not available for all states; not all cash assistance covered Veterans' Benefits Veterans Administration: Administrative data Some benefit data available for limited uses (limited) Disability IRS: 1099-R, limited data Excludes Social Security and VA Survivor Income IRS: 1099-R, limited data Excludes Social Security and VA Interest IRS: 1040 Includes taxable and nontaxable; excludes tax-preferred IRS: 1099-INT -- not available Dividends IRS: 1040 Excludes tax-preferred IRS: 1099-DIV -- not available Rent and Royalty IRS: 1040 Only gross rent Income IRS: 1040 Schedule E, K-1 -- not available Excludes depreciation Educational IRS: 1098-T, 1099-Q -- not available 1098-T covers financial aid; 1099-Q covers spending Assistance from tax-preferred education accounts (529, Coverdell)
|
From page 96... ...
4) identify additional challenges to using administrative records to improve income estimates.
|
From page 97... ...
In particular, the Census Bureau should aggressively explore the strategy of using federal and state administrative records to improve models for imputation for item nonresponse, including nonreporting of receipt as well as amounts. RECOMMENDATION 6.3: In developing a Principal Poverty Measure that integrates administrative data to the greatest extent possible, the Census Bureau should produce a historical series comparing an experimental Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM)
|
From page 98... ...
6.6.2. Technical Issues -- Consumer Unit Universe, Equivalence Scale, Multiplier The broadest and most representative group of CUs for estimating thresholds for the PPM would include single persons, couples, and all other CU types in the common threshold calculation.25 RECOMMENDATION 6.5: For calculating Principal Poverty Measure thresholds, the Bureau of Labor Statistics should use all consumer units captured in the Consumer Expenditure Survey (CE)
|
From page 99... ...
RECOMMENDATION 6.6: The Census Bureau and Bureau of Labor Statistics should reexamine the use of the three-parameter scale to respecify the basic needs bundle for the Principal Poverty Measure (PPM)
|
Key Terms
This material may be derived from roughly machine-read images, and so is provided only to facilitate research.
More
information on Chapter Skim is available.