Poverty & Policy Links, 4-6-12

A new measure of poverty has been developed.  Here's the story behind the new measure of poverty that's being rolled out and some background on how the calculations in the article were made.  The Economist agrees that the new measure is an improvement.

PBS reports on Dan Ariely's study of American opinions on wealth inequality in which Americans consistently underrated the amount of inequality in our country.  And here's Timothy Noah's essay on "why everyone overestimates American equality of opportunity".  Meanwhile, a recent analysis finds that the only major difference in mobility between the US and other developed nations is that fewer lower-income people become middle-income.

A new investigation of government programs finds that many people who oppose welfare and consider themselves self-sufficient Middle Class Americans accept a wide range of government aid.  Indeed, only 32% of entitlement benefits go to families in the bottom quintile of the income distribution.

Social entrepreneur David Bornstein writes that anti-poverty programs should focus on developing people's capabilities and other "soft" skills rather than measures of "well-being".  Here are some examples of these types of programs.

Mixed-income housing is being implemented with mixed success in Pittsburgh.


Nick Kristof writes about the impact of "toxic stress" on students

Here's the story of a young, white, homeless couple who defy stereotypes

Here's The Daily Show's take on recent rhetoric surrounding poverty