Measuring Poverty Through Consumption
The American Enterprise Institute (AEI) released its annual report on consumption poverty, a measure of how much people consume, which some argue offers a more robust measurement of poverty. Unlike the official poverty measure, the consumption poverty rate shows a long-term decline in poverty. Using the standard of living of the poor in 1980, the consumption poverty rate fell from 13% in 1980 to 2.8% in 2017. The official poverty rate fell by 0.7% during the same time period. A poverty rate visualization tool compares the consumption poverty and official poverty rates.