Census Bureau releases alternative measures of poverty Tuesday,
January 4, 2011; 6:57 PM The Census Bureau took a baby step
toward redefining what is considered poor in America on Tuesday
when it released several alternative measurements of poverty,
fundamentally revising a one-size-fits-all formula developed in
the 1960s by a civil servant. Under a complex series of eight
alternative measurements, the Census Bureau calculated that in
2009, the number of Americans living in poverty could have been
as few as 39 million or as many as almost 53 million. Under the
official calculation, the census estimated that about 44 million
were subsisting on incomes below the poverty line of about
$21,750 for a family of four. The alternatives generally set the
poverty threshold higher, as much as $29,600 for a couple with
two children. In September, the census estimated the nation's
poverty rate in 2009 was 14.3 percent. Under the alternatives,
it could have been as low as 12.8 percent or as high as 17.1
percent. For the ti