Feds developing a new way to measure poverty

The U.S. Commerce Department announced Tuesday that experts from the U.S. Census Bureau will develop a new, more sophisticated measurement of poverty to supplement an outdated poverty measurement that's been in use since the 1960s.

The new measurement will not replace the existing definition of poverty, and it won't be used to determine eligibility for government programs. That's too bad, since researchers have understood for years that the official poverty guidelines are not an accurate measurement of the income required to subsist without outside assistance.

The Colorado Center on Law and Policy has been the leader in this state in advancing a "self-sufficiency standard" as a better measurement of poverty. The self-sufficiency standard accounts for many variables such as child care costs to estimate the income required to get by without outside help. The agency released an online calculator a couple of years ago that helps people understand these variables.