Supplemental Measures of Material Well-Being: Basic Needs, Consumer Durables, Energy, and Poverty, 1981-2002. Special Studies. Current Population Reports

摘要

This report continues an effort begun in 2003 to explore additional ways of assessing the economic well-being of the U.S. population. Issued as a companion to the U.S. Census Bureau's reports on alternative measures of income and poverty, this report also attempts to expand our understanding of the population in poverty in the United States. The economic well-being of a population can be measured in many ways. Using income to measure well-being avoids comparing the situations of people with different spending preferences. For example, one person might spend money on a variety of goods; another might spend almost all on video games; while a third might spend little and save for a rainy day. If their incomes are the same, an income measure considers them to be equally 'well-off,' even if they differ in other aspects of their material condition.