Fixing Errors in a SNAP: Addressing SNAP Underreporting to Evaluate Poverty

Abstract

Since 1969, the official poverty measure has remained largely unchanged, despite substantial changes in the social safety net. This paper proposes a methodology for creating a buildable replacement to the official poverty measure, starting with market-based income, incorporating social insurance income, and building toward the Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM). While all components would not be available for the full time series, this approach would keep the unit of analysis constant, allow thresholds to vary by geography, and allow full understanding of the role of government taxes and transfers on poverty rates over time.