Poverty Measurement: Issues in Revising and Updating the Official Definition

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed various issues involved in updating the federal government's measure of poverty, focusing on: (1) the issues associated with measuring a family's economic well-being and setting a standard below which families are considered poor; (2) the suggestions experts have for addressing these issues; and (3) recent developments on these issues since the National Research Council (NRC) Panel on Poverty and Family Assistance issued its report in 1995.