Overlooked and Undercounted - Insight Center for Community ...

STRUGGLING TO MAKE ENDS MEET IN MISSISSIPPI — 51
Endnotes
1
Fact Sheet: United States, Mississippi. Retrieved November 19,
2009, from http://factfinder.census.gov
2
Ruggles, P. (1990). Drawing the line: Alternative poverty measures
and their implications for public policy. The Urban Institute,
Washington, D.C.
3
Bergmann, B. & Renwick, T. (1993). A budget-based definition
of poverty: With an application to single-parent families. The
Journal of Human Resources, 28 (1), 1-24.
4
Citro, C. & Michael, R. Eds. (1995). Measuring poverty: A new
approach. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
5
Dalaker. (2000). Poverty in the United States: 2000. (U.S. Census
Bureau, Current Population Reports, Series P60-214). U.S.
Government Printing Office (Washington, D.C., 2001).
6
The Self-Sufficiency Standard was developed in the mid-1990s
by Diana Pearce as an alternative “performance standard” in
the workforce development system, then called the JTPA (Job
Training Partnership Act) Program, to measure more accurately
and specifically what would be required to meet the JTPA
goal of “self-sufficiency” for each individual participant. The
development of the Self-Sufficiency Standard has also benefited
from other attempts to create alternatives, such as Living Wage
campaigns, the National Academy of Sciences studies, and Trudi
Renwick’s work. See Trudi Renwick and Barbara Bergmann,
“A budget-based definition of poverty: With an application to
single-parent families,” The Journal of Human Resources, 28(1), p.
1-24 (1993). For a more detailed discussion of the background and
methodology of the Self-Sufficiency Standard, see a state report,
available at http://www.selfsufficiencystandard.org/pubs.html
7
The Self-Sufficiency Standard has been calculated for 37 states
plus the District of Columbia and New York City.
8
U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics (2000).
Consumer Expenditure Survey. 2000 Table 4: Size of consumer
unit: Average annual expenditures and characteristics. Available
from http://www.bls.gov/cex/2000/Standard/cusize.pdf
9
According the 2007 American Community Survey estimates
for Mississippi, 21% of all households are below the poverty level.
This is different than the estimate calculated in this report (18%
for households) due to the fact that our sample excludes those
over 65 years, those with work disabilities, and those living in
group quarters, groups with higher than average poverty rates.
See U.S. Census Bureau, 2007 American Community Survey
1-Year Estimates. C17017. Poverty status in the past 12 months
by household type. Retrieved July 2, 2009 from http://factfinder.
census.gov.
10
Because the FPL is so low, in all instances the FPL for a given
household is lower than the Standard, even in the least expensive
areas.
11
In the Census questionnaires, individuals were asked whether
or not they identified as Hispanic or Latino and then asked to
identify their race/races (they could indicate more than one
race). Those who indicated they were Latino (either alone or
in addition to other race categories) were coded as Hispanic/
Latino, regardless of race (Latinos may be of any race). Non-
Latino individuals who identified as African American (alone
or in addition to other race categories) were coded as African
American. Non-Latino, non-African American individuals
who identified as Asian or Hawaii/Pacific Islanders (alone or
in addition to other race categories) were coded as API (Asian/
Pacific Islander). Those non-Latino, non-African American and
non-API individuals who identified as “Other” (either alone or in
addition to other race categories) were coded as “Other”. All other
non-Latino, non-African American, non-API and non-“Other”
individuals were coded as White. Tables were created with the
mutually exclusive categories, and then were again run for all
respondents indicating more than one racial category. The results
were virtually identical, so only the mutually exclusive race/ethnic
categories are reported here.
12
Note that data for race/ethnicity, citizenship status, and
language, reflect that of the householder and not necessarily that
of the entire household.
13
Rank, M. & Hirschl T.A. (2001). Rags or riches? Estimating the
probabilities of poverty and affluence across the adult American
life span. Social Science Quarterly, 82 (4) December: 651-669.
14
Among foreign-born householders, rates of income inadequacy
rates are highest for non-citizen householders (48%) compared to
naturalized citizen householders (36%).
15
The householder is the person (or one of the persons) in whose
name the housing unit is owned or rented or, if there is no such