Aiming at Half of the Target: An Argument to Replace Poverty Thresholds With Self-Sufficiency, or “Living Wage” Standards

Abstract

The federal poverty “line,” established in the 1960s, has long been criticized as severely inadequate. Efforts to adjust it have ensued. As poverty is measured by income, it is logically linked to inadequate wages. Movements to establish a “living wage,” intended to ensure self-sufficiency, have also been pursued. The histories of these efforts are briefly examined, with attention to the working poor. The authors argue that using a living wage benchmark for measuring income inadequacy should replace poverty measures to better describe a continuum from the poorest households to those who have achieved at least minimal self-sufficiency.