“Even if the economy was rebounding, I don’t think the official
poverty statistics show it that much,” said Ann Stevens, an
economics professor who directs the UC Davis Center for Poverty
Research.
Unemployment insurance gives many down-on-their-luck Americans
enough income to stay above the poverty line, but Stevens said
the official poverty measurements don’t count food stamps,
housing assistance and other programs that help people survive
but don’t give them cash income.
“They’re likely to be used to say, look, the war on poverty isn’t
working,” Stevens said of the latest numbers. “We know these
programs do have benefits, they just don’t show up in these basic
statistics.”
The California State Assembly Committee on Accountability and
Administrative Review held hearings in December 2011 on the
problem of inequality and the potential role of state
government. Center for Poverty Research Director Ann Huff
Stevens testified, along with researchers from a variety of
universities and institutes throughout the state.