Sheldon Danziger quoted in Pioneer Press article, "Who's poor? Proposal aims for better measurement"

Sheldon Danziger spoke to Pioneer Press about a proposed law that would redefine how poverty rates are measured in the U.S. One goal of the “Measuring Poverty in America Act of 2009” is to expand the poverty measurement formula to include regional differences in cost of living and the cost of medical care. Some bill opponents are concerned it is a ploy to increase the number of people receiving government assistance, but according to Danziger, “The text of the bill makes clear that improving the poverty measure is not meant to tie the new measure to eligibility.” He continued, “Periodically, we update the way we measure inflation. Why not update the way we measure poverty?”