A reader of the blog brought to my attention two factual inaccuracies in Thursday’s post:
1. I erroneously stated that the poverty definition does not take account of some cash benefits. In fact, the official poverty definition does include Social Security income, unemployment insurance, welfare, and all other cash benefits. It does, however, exclude noncash benefits. See this.
2. I mentioned that the poverty rate is at its highest since 1994. The poverty rate in 1994 was actually 14.5, and was 15.1 percent in 1993. Thus, the 2010 rate was actually at its highest since 1993.
Thanks to all you careful readers! Looking forward to an interesting conversation about poverty in the next few posts.
