U.S. Income Data: Good Numbers Hiding Excellent News


 

Publication Date: August 1988

Publisher: Heritage Foundation (Washington, D.C.)

Author(s): Kate Walsh O'Beirne

Research Area: Population and demographics; Social conditions

Keywords: Economy

Type: Report

Abstract:

Because the statistics systematically underestimate income, they give an unduly pessimistic impression of poverty in America. And because the official numbers hide the most significant factor leading to poverty - broken families - the Census Bureau statistics are an unreliable guide for public policy. Fundamental reforms of the Bureau’s methodology are required, and lawmakers should take careful account of the need for those reforms when they try to interpret the data for 1987 when they are released later this month.