U.S. Poverty Rate At 16% With Revised Calculation Model

Using a newly-created Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM), U.S. Census Bureau has determined that the poverty rate in the U.S. was 16% (49 million people) in 2010; however, according to the Census Bureau's official calculation, the poverty rate during that same time period was only 15.2% (46 million people). The official U.S. poverty measure was created in the 1960's and since that time, only minor changes in the calculation model have taken place. Over the past decade, the Census Bureau has been trying to adjust the poverty measures to better account for "contemporary social . . .