Despite the debate over measuring it, the pain of poverty is real
“Poverty experts have long debated how best to quantify poverty in the United States. Traditional U.S. Census measures rely on income. Others argue that a truer picture of the number of Americans experiencing poverty emerges when income is combined with government and social service benefits. The Salvation Army’s Human Needs Index, for instance, offers an on-the-ground portrayal of need based on the Army’s near real-time service statistics around housing, food insecurity, energy assistance and more.”