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Wisconsin Poverty

New Wisconsin Poverty Measure
Wisconsin Poverty Reports
Wisconsin Antipoverty Summit: “Building Bridges to Family Economic Success”
The Wisconsin Idea in Action: IRP and Wisconsin's Antipoverty Initiative
IRP Affiliate Stimulus Commentaries: American Recovery and Reinvestment Act ("Stimulus Bill")

New Wisconsin Poverty Measure

As a service to the State of Wisconsin, IRP has prepared three annual reports on poverty in Wisconsin using the American Community Survey (ACS), administrative data, and new methods of measuring poverty developed at IRP. The first Wisconsin Poverty Report, released in May 2009, relied on the innovative use of SNAP data to forecast growing need in the state. In September 2010, IRP researchers released the second Wisconsin Poverty Report, which uses a more complete accounting than traditional measures of both resources and need to determine the state poverty rate. In May 2011, the third Wisconsin Poverty Report was released. This report looks at antipoverty programs during the Great Recession.

IRP created the new poverty measure for Wisconsin with the knowledge that poverty can’t be reduced unless researchers and policymakers have an accurate view of both the resources and expenses of individuals and families. Compared to the official poverty measure, the Wisconsin Poverty Measure provides a more accurate tally of Wisconsinites whose basic needs outweigh their resources, and tells policymakers what they need to know to gauge the effectiveness of public programs such as food and nutrition assistance (FoodShare in Wisconsin) and tax credits.

The official federal poverty measure considers pretax cash income, whereas the new Wisconsin Poverty Measure counts other resources as well, such as food assistance and tax credits. The measure includes state-specific policies such as the Wisconsin State Earned Income Tax Credit and the Wisconsin Homestead Credit, in addition to estimating payments for federal taxes, Social Security and Medicare payroll taxes, and the federal EITC. The research team also considered work-related expenses such as transportation and child care and out-of-pocket medical expenses, which reduce income that could be spent on food, housing, and other basic needs. The new Wisconsin Poverty Measure also looks at geographic differences in cost of living both within the state and relative to the nation as a whole.

Poverty experts, including many IRP researchers, have called for these changes on the national level for many years. IRP researchers incorporated many of the recommendations into the Wisconsin Poverty Measure as well as policies and priorities unique to the state. The Wisconsin Poverty Measure was developed by IRP Director Timothy Smeeding with Julia Isaacs of the Brookings Institution; Joanna Young Marks, an IRP researcher; and the IRP programming team.

The IRP researchers join a handful of other groups across the country in developing state and local poverty measures that provide a much broader picture of not only poverty in a given area of the state but also of how well state and federal programs are affecting need. The IRP Wisconsin Poverty Measure approach is also being used by other states to develop their own state- and local-level poverty measures and the Institute is serving as a resource for their efforts.  The basic results of IRP’s 20110 Wisconsin Poverty Project are found in the Wisconsin Poverty Report: Were Antipoverty Policies Effective in 2009? Two companion technical reports offer additional details to serve as a resource to other states and localities.

In the future, IRP researchers will use the measure to analyze trends in poverty, to include analyses of the impact of the proposed federal Supplemental Poverty Measure, and to provide advice to neighboring states and others on using the ACS for state poverty measurement.

 

Wisconsin Poverty Reports

2011

Wisconsin Poverty Report: Were Antipoverty Policies Effective in 2009? Joanna Y. Marks, Julia B. Isaacs, Timothy M. Smeeding, and Katherine A. Thornton, May 2011

Wisconsin Poverty Report: Methodology and Results for 2009, Julia B. Isaacs, Joanna Y. Marks, Timothy M. Smeeding, Katherine A. Thornton, May 2011

Wisconsin Poverty Report: Technical Appendix, Julia B. Isaacs, Joanna Y. Marks, Timothy M. Smeeding, Katherine A. Thornton

On May 4, 2011, IRP released the third Wisconsin Poverty Report: Were Antipoverty Programs Effective in 2009? Using their new Wisconsin Poverty Measure, which takes a broader view of needs and resources than the official poverty measure, researchers examined need in 2009 and changes in economic security from 2008 to 2009. 

“Our findings are dramatic: Despite the reduction in employment and earnings in 2009, our Wisconsin Poverty Measure reveals that antipoverty programs kept child poverty steady in our state between 2008 and 2009. Expanded tax credits and food assistance benefits, which we include but the official measure does not, offset a drop in family earnings and cash income in 2009 and kept scores of Wisconsin children out of poverty,” says Tim Smeeding, lead Wisconsin Poverty Project researcher, director of IRP, and La Follette School of Public Affairs faculty member.

Related Publications

Faces of Poverty in Wisconsin, Julia Isaacs. PowerPoint presentation presented at the Rehabilitation for Wisconsin, 2011 Wisconsin Economic Summit from Poverty to Financial Security, October 26, 2011. Video of the keynote address by Julia Isaacs.

The New Demography of Poverty: The Wisconsin Poverty Measure and Effects of Federal and State Policies in Wisconsin, Julia B. Isaacs, Joanna Young Marks, Katherine A. Thornton, and Timothy M. Smeeding. Paper prepared for presentation at the 2011 Annual Meeting of the Population Association of America Washington, DC, March 31, 2011.

The “Wisconsin Idea” and Antipoverty Innovation, Timothy M. Smeeding and Joanna Y. Marks, Pathways: A Magazine on Poverty, Inequality, and Social Policy, Stanford Center for the Study of Poverty and Inequality, Summer 2011.

Media Coverage

2010

Wisconsin Poverty Report: New Measure, Broader View, Joanna Young Marks, Julia B. Isaacs, and Timothy M. Smeeding, September 2010

Wisconsin Poverty Report: Methodology and Results for 2008, Julia B. Isaacs, Joanna Young Marks, Timothy M. Smeeding, and Katherine Thornton, September 2010

Wisconsin Poverty Report: Technical Appendix, Julia B. Isaacs, Joanna Young Marks, Timothy M. Smeeding, and Katherine Thornton, September 2010

The second Wisconsin Poverty Report, which IRP released September 2, 2010, is based on findings under a new, Wisconsin-specific measure devised by IRP. The report shows that the rate of poverty in Wisconsin worsened in 2008, with more than 11 percent of the state’s population living in need, including one in seven children and one in 10 elderly residents.

“IRP created the Wisconsin Poverty Measure with the knowledge that poverty can’t be reduced unless researchers and policymakers have an accurate view of both the resources and expenses of individuals and families, as well as a measure that takes into account the way in which public policies affect low-income families, as job supports and as sources of income security and stability,” says Tim Smeeding, director of IRP and La Follette School of Public Affairs faculty member.

Related Publications

The effects of the 2009 ARRA on poverty in Wisconsin, Timothy M. Smeeding, Julia B. Isaacs, Joanna Y. Marks, and Katherine Thornton, Fast Focus 7-2010.

Media Coverage


2009

The First Wisconsin Poverty Report, Julia B. Isaacs and Timothy M. Smeeding, April 2009
Full report available in PDF format | PowerPoint Presentation in PDF format

The Institute for Research on Poverty recently released the first-ever Wisconsin Poverty Report, which shows that one in seven Wisconsin children and 10.8% of the state’s population lived in poverty in 2007 (before the economic recession took hold). Presented at the statewide “Building Bridges to Family Economic Success” summit held May 4-5, 2009, in Milwaukee, the report finds that poverty in Wisconsin is rapidly growing with the recession, as reflected in increasing food assistance program enrollment.

IRP Director Tim Smeeding notes, “We see the Wisconsin Poverty Report as a key starting point for the state’s antipoverty plan. The report can be used to target areas of greatest need within our state and subsequent studies could be used to monitor the antipoverty effectiveness of programs and policies.”

Media Coverage

Wisconsin Antipoverty Summit:
“Building Bridges to Family Economic Success”

IRP Director Tim Smeeding accepted an invitation in January 2009 from Reggie Bicha, Secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Children and Families, to serve on the planning council for the May 4 and 5, 2009, antipoverty summit, “Building Bridges to Family Economic Success.”

The summit, initiated by Governor Doyle and led by the Department of Children and Families, brought together a diverse set of people and organizations concerned about poverty in the state, including the Institute for Research on Poverty, policymakers and agency executives, tribal representatives, service providers, nonprofit organizations, foundations, and advocates. Participants examined poverty and antipoverty policies and programs in Wisconsin and set an agenda to improve the well-being of children and families across the state.

The Wisconsin Idea in Action: IRP and Wisconsin's Antipoverty Initiative

[Full Report | Executive Summary | Presentation]

Tim Smeeding, IRP Researcher Jennifer Noyes, and Jane Penner-Hoppe from the Wisconsin Department of Children and Families - all of whom are working on Wisconsin's antipoverty initiative - co-authored a paper, " Setting Priorities and Fighting Poverty in Wisconsin," which describes Wisconsin's process for designing and implementing its antipoverty initiative. Noyes presented the report at the Emory University conference on "Reducing Poverty: Assessing Recent State Policy Innovations and Strategies" held at Emory University, November 19-20, 2009.

As part of IRP's longstanding relationship with state government to identify and address issues associated with family well-being and economic security in the spirit of the Wisconsin Idea, IRP recently has focused on working in a partnership with the State to set priorities and fight poverty within Wisconsin borders. The paper "Setting Priorities and Fighting Poverty in Wisconsin" summarizes three aspects of the Wisconsin Idea in action as it relates to poverty in Wisconsin:

  1. the planning and initial implementation of a statewide effort sponsored by the governor and facilitated by the Department of Children and Families to identify long-term strategies for increasing economic security;
  2. the identification and provision of key information needed to implement these strategies, including working conferences that draw on national expertise; and
  3. the compilation and analysis of information about poverty trends in Wisconsin through the creation of the Wisconsin Poverty Report

IRP Affiliate Stimulus Commentaries:
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act ("Stimulus Bill")

The “Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity” Web site features a special series of commentaries written by IRP affiliates that examines how the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act affects low-income Americans.

The commentaries draw from an IRP seminar held on March 5, 2009, in response to the need to know how the stimulus bill provisions change the social policy playing field. IRP Director Timothy Smeeding opened the series with the piece “ First Steps toward a Strong Antipoverty Policy: New Attention to a Growing Problem.” Professor Daniel R. Meyer continued the series with an analysis of the bill’s tax and transfer programs and how they will affect those in need. Professor Andrew Reschovsky then added an examination of whether the stimulus bill will protect public education from spending cuts from the perspective of Wisconsin. Professor Pamela Herd provided an installment that examines stimulus spending on health. Professor Sara Goldrick-Rab’s installment will consider President Obama’s education policy and suggest that a greater emphasis on community colleges to improve educational attainment in the U.S.

 

 

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Posted: 5 May, 2009
Last Updated: 15 December, 2011