From 2016 to 2017, the official poverty rate fell by 0.4% points, as household income rose modestly, throughout the income distribution. This was the third year in a row that poverty declined, but the poverty rate remains a full percentage point higher than the low of 11.3% it reached in 2000 (Economic Policy Institute, 2018).
Since 2010, in the U.S. Census Bureau has also released an alternative to the official poverty measure also known as the Supplemental Poverty Measure or the SPM. The SPM corrects many potential deficiencies in the official rate. For one, it constructs a more realistic threshold for incomes families need to live free of poverty, and adjusts that threshold for regional price differences. For another, it accounts for the resources available to poor families that are not included in the official rate, such as food stamps and other in-kind gov.t benefits. The SPM data also shows a lower rate of child poverty than the official statistics, primarily as a result of the SPM’ inclusion of noncash income from the gov.t assistance programs. Social Security is, by far, the most powerful anti-poverty program in the U.S. in 2017, it was responsible for keeping almost 27.0 million people, or about 8.4% of Americans, above the SPM poverty threshold (Economic Policy Institute, 2018).
The world bank has been a longstanding partner of Bangladesh ever since its independence. Through its concessional lending arm, it has committed more than $28 Billion in grants, interest-free and concessional financing credits to Bangladesh. In recent years, Bangladesh has been among the largest recipient countries of the IDA (International Development Association) fund and currently has the largest IDA program totaling $11.3 Billion (The World Bank).
Because it incorporates noncash sources of income intro its calculations, the SPM allows them to see the enormous impact that the full spectrum of gov.t anti-poverty programs have in reducing hardship for millions of Americans. Housing subsidies shielded almost 900,000 children from poverty. Even Social Security, too often thought of as strictly a program for older Americans, has a large impact on the welfare of the children, lifting 1.4 million kids above the poverty line (Economic Policy Institute, 2018).
(www.epi.org/blog/government-programs-kept-tens-of-millions-out-of-poverty-in-2017/)