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August 28, 2024

Race, Ethnicity, and Measurement Error

Abstract Large literatures have analyzed racial and ethnic disparities in economic outcomes and access to the safety net. For such analyses that rely on survey data, it is crucial that survey accuracy does not vary by race and ethnicity. Otherwise, the observed disparities may be confounded by differences in survey error. In this paper, we…

May 24, 2024

The First National Calculation of Mortality of the US Homeless Population

It is well established that those with lower incomes tend to have worse health outcomes. But whether this relationship extends to the most disadvantaged in society – people experiencing homelessness – has rarely been examined. This column explores the relationship between homelessness and health outcomes in the US. It finds that after accounting for demographic…

April 17, 2024

Homelessness and the Persistence of Deprivation: Income, Employment, and Safety Net Participation

Abstract Homelessness is arguably the most extreme hardship associated with poverty in the United States, yet people experiencing homelessness are excluded from official poverty statistics and much of the extreme poverty literature. This paper provides the most detailed and accurate portrait to date of the level and persistence of material disadvantage faced by this population,…

October 24, 2023

Testimony: Hearing on Measuring Poverty

Chairman Smith, Subcommittee Chairman LaHood, Ranking Member Davis, and distinguished members of the Committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify. I am Bruce Meyer, McCormick Foundation Professor at the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy. My 40-year-long research agenda has focused on the accuracy of government data; I have served on multiple…

October 17, 2023

Understanding Poverty Measurement

COSM scholars and AEI affiliates include some of the nation’s foremost experts on poverty measurement. On October 17, COSM gathered several of these scholars to provide a primer on opportunity in the United States. Angela Rachidi began by exploring the meaning of poverty, outlining the most fundamental decisions in measuring it and describing how different…

September 12, 2023

Measuring Poverty: The New Census Estimates and the Future of Poverty Measurement

Join AEI’s Center on Opportunity and Social Mobility for the release of the Census Bureau’s 2022 income and poverty estimates. AEI’s poverty experts will break down the numbers and discuss what they mean for the United States’ economic well-being. Then, they will discuss the state of poverty measurement and how it can be improved in…

June 15, 2023

Testimony on Anti-Poverty and Family Support Provisions in the Tax Code

Introduction Chairman Wyden, Ranking Member Crapo, and distinguished members of Committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify. My name is Bruce D. Meyer, and I am the McCormick Foundation Professor of Public Policy at the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy. I have spent forty years researching the effects of government programs…

May 26, 2023

The Size and Census Coverage of the U.S. Homeless Population

Abstract Fundamental questions about the size and characteristics of the homeless population are unresolved because it is unclear whether existing data are sufficiently complete and reliable. We examine these questions and the coverage of new microdata sources that are designed to be nationally representative. We compare two restricted data sources largely unused to study homelessness,…

February 1, 2023

The Change in Poverty from 1995 to 2016 Among Single‐​Parent Families

Whether poverty has risen or fallen over time is a key barometer of societal progress. Between 1970 and 2020, the official poverty rate in the United States fell by just 1.2 percentage points (9.5 percent), suggesting limited economic gains for the disadvantaged despite large investments in anti‐​poverty programs. In contrast, several recent studies have found much…