> US lawmakers have expressed frustration when investments such as welfare programs don’t pull people out of poverty.
Most US welfare spending is explicitly excluded from measures of poverty; if you're measuring "the values of X excluding Y", increasing Y isn't going to move the needle.
"The U.S. Census Bureau determines poverty status by comparing pre-tax cash income against a threshold..."
American anti-poverty measures overwhelmingly take the form of tax credits (eg, the EITC program), food stamps (SNAP), housing vouchers (section 8 vouchers), and health care (eg, Medicaid). All four are excluded when looking at pre-tax cash incomes. For good or ill, we don't give the poor cash.
I know that's not really the point of the article, but it was a bit jarring.
Most US welfare spending is explicitly excluded from measures of poverty; if you're measuring "the values of X excluding Y", increasing Y isn't going to move the needle.
"The U.S. Census Bureau determines poverty status by comparing pre-tax cash income against a threshold..."
American anti-poverty measures overwhelmingly take the form of tax credits (eg, the EITC program), food stamps (SNAP), housing vouchers (section 8 vouchers), and health care (eg, Medicaid). All four are excluded when looking at pre-tax cash incomes. For good or ill, we don't give the poor cash.
I know that's not really the point of the article, but it was a bit jarring.