The U.S. first developed the Official Poverty Measure (OPM) in the 1960s, and since that time, the measure has drastically underestimated poverty, including a recent announcement of a national 10.5 percent poverty rate. Yet, the OPM is still used to determine eligibility for federal programs and aid amounts to communities. Because of our reliance on this outdated measure, the full scope of American poverty is grossly misunderstood and misstated.

Join The Century Foundation on Thursday, October 1, 2:00–3:00 PM EST to discuss a new report focused on why the OPM is woefully out of date, the changes needed to the Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM), and how the federal government can more accurately measure poverty in America, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Please register here to obtain the Zoom link.

Featuring:

• Moderator: Jeff Madrick, author, senior fellow at The Century Foundation, and director of the Bernard L. Schwartz Rediscovering Government Initiative
• Shawn Fremstad, senior policy fellow, Center for Economic Policy and Research
• Sandra Killett, activist and social justice organizer
• Anne E. Price, president, Insight Center for Community Economic Development.
• Arloc Sherman, vice president of data analysis and research, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities

Presented by The Century Foundation’s Bernard L. Schwartz Rediscovering Government Initiative and the Center for Economic Policy and Research.