Let's not play numbers games with poverty

LAST WEEK, the Census Bureau released new data on poverty. Not surprisingly, the news is grim: the number of people living in poverty has risen a full percentage point over last year. (The region has remained fairly steady, but food-stamp applications are up 3 percent over last year in the city.)

Today, 13.2 percent of people in the country are living below the poverty line - about 40 million in all. Obviously, this is a big problem. But that's not even the half of it.

The last time 40 million people lived below the poverty line was in 1960. It was in fact during this time when the federal poverty guideline was first established. Back then, food comprised a third of people's budgets, and so the poverty line was calculated by multiplying food cost by three. In the four decades since, the cost of housing, energy and child care has skyrocketed while the cost of food has dropped, making the poverty guidelines badly outdated. They have never taken the wide geographical disparities in the cost of living into account either.

Consider the implications. Start by considering trying to survive in a family of four with an annual income of $21,834, the official poverty line. Now consider being in a family of four making $23,000 or $25,000 or even slightly more. The government doesn't consider you poor, but that doesn't mean your survival isn't as precarious as those meeting the poverty guidelines. But this group that falls out of the official guidelines - some say the same number as those qualifying as "poor" are not counted.

The nonprofit Pathways PA produces a self-sufficiency standard for the state which it updates regularly; this standard is a better reflection of the real cost of living, since it takes into account housing costs, child care, taxes on workers, as well as geographic differences. According to this standard, it takes an income of $53,611 to be a self-sufficient family of four in Philadelphia. That's 253 percent more than the federal standard (and far more than Philadelphia's $30,000 median household income). This isn't luxury living; it's what a family simply needs to live without any outside help.

Pathways is one of many who argue for major updating of the federal poverty guidelines. While it's shocking that four decades have passed without changing the standards, there's at least one obvious reason the government isn't in a hurry to update them; it could get very costly. And frankly, it's harder to think we're a thriving country if we have to acknowledge the full number of people who aren't.

Congress actually has a bill pending that would provide more realistic standards. The Measuring American Poverty Act was introduced in the Senate last month by Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn.; a House version was introduced in July by Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Wash.

The full picture of poverty and struggle in this country is one that few of us want to see. It could upend our core beliefs about who we are as a country. But if we are serious about our economic recovery, we have to recognize that building roads and bridges will only take us so far. Building wealth and self-sufficiency is critical, and we need an honest view of how far away we are from that goal. Congress should take the first step toward this and act on this bill.