[PEN-L:5191] Re: measuring poverty

[dhenwood@xxxxxxxxx (Doug Henwood)]

At 10:52 AM 5/23/95, Jim Devine wrote:

>The only thing I've seen that's like this is Martin Bronfenbrenner's
>calculation of the "Wolf Point" in his INCOME DISTRIBUTION THEORY.
>It's the point where on a time-series plotting of consumption
>relative to disposable income, consumption equals disp. inc.
>This is where the "wolf is at the door": below it, one has
>to get into greater debt or sell assets to maintain consump-
>tion. Of course, if one does that, one's status falls.

According to unpublished data from the BLS's Consumer Expenditure Survey,
the bottom three quintiles of the income distribution spend more than their
after-tax income. Now of course these averages hide surplus units lurking
in there, and the CES income numbers are notoriously spongy, but there's a
definition of poverty for you - when you spend 200% of your income. The
wolf gets inside the door and sits down at the kitchen table.

Doug

--

Doug Henwood
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