The Trump administration is considering adjusting the federal definition of poverty in a way that would reduce eligibility for welfare.
The administration solicited public comments Monday on whether to use a different inflation gauge to set the poverty threshold, asking about one inflation measure in particular that would result in the threshold rising more slowly, thereby making fewer people eligible for benefits over time.
The White House’s Office of Management and Budget said in a document published Monday in the Federal Register that it would “consider the need to update the specific inflation measure used to adjust” the Official Poverty Measures. Requesting public comments is a key step in adjusting a federal rule.
“It has been 40 years since we looked at what inflation measure was used for the poverty threshold, and our knowledge about inflation has increased substantially since that time so it is worth reevaluating,” said a senior administration official.
The current federal poverty threshold is $13,000 or less in a year for an individual or $25,900 for a family of four, according to the Census Bureau. The statistic is used by numerous federal, state, local, and nonprofit programs to decide whether people and families qualify for assistance programs. The level is adjusted each year based on a Labor Department inflation statistic, the Consumer Price Index.
The budget office noted that the use of the Consumer Price Index “has not been reevaluated since the introduction of new consumer inflation measures.” It made particular note of a separate measure, the Chained Consumer Price Index, that factors in the substitutions consumers make in response to price changes by switching to cheaper versions of products, resulting in a slower rate of increase than the traditional Consumer Price Index.
The Labor Department reported in March, for example, that the traditional consumer price index had risen by 1.9%, but the variant chained measure had risen by just 1.7%.
The announcement seeks comment on possibly using other alternate Labor Department measurements as well, such as the Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index and the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers. These are similar to the traditional Consumer Price Index but use different measurements to weight the results.
A representative for the White House or the Office of Management and Budget could not be immediately reached for comment.
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