Measuring Poverty: Why It Matters, & What Should & Should Not Be Done About It - Georgetown Center on Poverty and Inequality

An administrative proposal to artificially lower the poverty line is “technically questionable, economically unwise, and morally troubling” according to Indi Dutta-Gupta’s testimony before the United States House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Reform. Over time, this change would harm millions of people by taking away their access to foundational support programs—including Medicaid and SNAP. His testimony emphasized the proposal’s inevitable harmful impacts, highlighted the proposal’s questionable assumptions about people experiencing poverty, and underscored the need to reform the poverty measurement to improve its accuracy and usefulness for the federal government and the many other stakeholders who rely on it.

Read his full testimony using the download link to the left.

Gallery

Indi-Dutta Gupta speaking on a panel before the House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Reform. He is speaking and gesturing with his hands.

Representative Ocasio-Cortez speaking on a panel before the House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Reform. She is speaking and looking up.

Representative Carol Miller speaking on a panel.

Amy Jo Hutchinson speaking on a panel before the House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Reform. She is speaking and looking up.

Rob Smith speaking on a panel before the House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Reform. He is speaking and gesturing with his hands.

Sister Simone Campbell and Amy Jo Hutchinson smiling at one another and looking away from the camera.

Sister Simone Campbell speaking on a panel before the House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Reform. She is speaking and gesturing with her hands.