“Anyone who has ever struggled with poverty knows how extremely expensive it is to be poor.”―James Baldwin
What’s the point of measuring poverty? Presumably, we measure it so that we can figure out ways to end it. Unfortunately, the poverty measures most programs use to aid the poor are blunt instruments; they don’t identify the nuanced levers that might actually help families in different situations. Meanwhile, better measures remain unused and unconsidered in federal, state, and local policy.
.....Essentially, basic needs budget models put a stake in the ground for what people need to live with some dignity. The United Ways of California recently authored a report that presents our own basic needs budget approach, “The Real Cost Measure.” Our Real Cost Measure and similar approaches make critical assumptions about what “basic” means, considering the costs of:
- Housing: Families should be able to rent a family apartment, rather than doubling up with extended family or strangers; parents should be able to have separate rooms from their children, rather than crowding in together.
- Childcare: Families with young children should be able to afford adequate, licensed child care so that adults can work for a living, and so that children can feel safe and nurtured, and ideally, develop their minds and bodies apace with wealthier peers.
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