Indicators: How Can You Measure Progress
Policymakers can measure progress toward family economic success by tracking data indicators in the key elements. The indicators presented below meet criteria for a powerful and useful result measure in these areas.
·
Income and Expense.
The most widely used indicator for tracking the economic success of families is the Federal Poverty Threshold (FPT). The goal of the FPT is to measure the minimum expenses a household must incur for basic necessities. The percentage of households with incomes below this level is the poverty rate. However, due to the technical deficiencies of the FPT , this measure does not accurately reflect all of the needs or resources of vulnerable families. An analysis of poverty in a state can be enhanced with the use of additional, alternate measures that address some of these technical deficiencies of the FPT. Despite its deficiencies, using the FPT allows policymakers to access consistent, annually-available, 50-state data. The following indicators measure general poverty rates.
o Child poverty: 100% of the FPT
.
Children in these families experience high levels of stress that has a negative impact on their development into adulthood.
o
Children in extreme poverty: 50% of the FPT.
Children living under 50% of the FPT are subject to the greatest levels of stress and are therefore most likely to experience poor educational and employment outcomes as adults. [i]
o
Children in near-poverty: 200% of the FPT.
Children whose families earn income at a level just above the FPT still face many challenges. This group is often referred to as the working poor. For more information on the challenges of the working poor, see the
Working Poor Families Project .
o
Median Household Income.
This indicator measures state economic health over time and shows how the state compares to the nation.
o
Food Security
. The U.S. Department of Agriculture conducts an annual survey to estimate the percentage of households that cannot afford adequate food. These data are reported at the national level annually, but state data reporting is restricted to
three-year averages
for 1996-1998, 2000-2002, and 2003-2005.
·
Employment.
Employment is key to income.
The following indicators can be used to track state progress toward promoting employment.
o
Unemployment rate:
Tracks unemployment levels by state or metropolitan area over time.
o
Children living in families where no parent has full-time, year-round employment:
Focuses attention on children in families which parents are unemployed or underemployed.
o
Wages:
Average weekly wages for each calendar quarter.
·
Assets and Liabilities.
Assets minus liabilities equal net worth, an essential measure of economic success. [ii] Asset acquisitions include putting aside savings to provide security during temporary setbacks (such as job loss) or emergencies, paying for higher education, providing for retirement, or purchasing a home.
o
Home foreclosures:
The number of properties with foreclosure filings within a given year, or the rate of foreclosures.
o
Homeownership rates:
The percentage of U.S. households that own their own home. [iii] .