Grounded in reality

Wednesday, July 16, 2008 | 2:06 a.m.

The year that man first stepped on the moon, 1969, was also when the federal definition of poverty was last revised. That definition focuses on the amount of an individual’s or household’s pretax income that is spent on food.

But much has changed since 1969. Families are now driven into bankruptcy by overwhelming medical expenses. Housing and transportation costs have soared. Far more people are struggling to survive than is reflected by the poverty rate.

The definition of poverty, frankly, has become antiquated. The House Ways and Means subcommittee on income security, to its credit, has reached that conclusion and is looking into this issue.

The congressmen would be wise to consider a new measurement devised by New York City’s Center for Economic Opportunity and advocated by the city’s mayor, Michael Bloomberg. The Washington Post reported Monday that the center’s measurement accounts for household spending on food, clothing, shelter, transportation, utilities and out-of-pocket medical expenses.

When that formula was applied to the city, its poverty rate climbed from the federally recognized 18.9 percent to 23 percent.

It is vital that the definition of poverty reflect today’s economic conditions, not those of 40 years ago. That’s because many government assistance programs rely on poverty designations to determine eligibility. Too many people, including residents of Southern Nevada, fall through the cracks and are denied assistance because they do not fit the narrow federal definition of poverty.

Budget hawks who think there are already enough government assistance programs simply are unrealistic. They ignore the fact that household finances are far more complicated today than they were in the 1960s.

Bloomberg aides told the Post that although food accounted for one-third of household spending in the 1960s, it now accounts for only one-eighth. Not surprisingly, housing and transportation costs have become more prominent.

Targeting the people who truly need government assistance cries out for a new definition of poverty that is grounded in reality, not in some bygone era.