Expand Economic Opportunity and Reduce Child Poverty

Indicators: How Can You Measure Progress

Policymakers can measure progress toward family economic success by tracking data indicators in three key areas. The indicators presented below meet criteria for a powerful and useful result measure in these areas.

· Employment. 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 where parents are unemployed or underemployed.

· Income. The most widely used indicator for tracking the economic success of families is the Federal Poverty Threshold (FPT). 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 percent 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 percent of the FPT . Children living under 50 percent 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 percent 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 .

· Assets . The net worth of an individual or household is an essential measure of economic success. [ii] Assets include savings to provide security during temporary setbacks (such as job loss) or emergencies, to pay for higher education, provide for retirement, or to purchase a home.

o Homeownership rates : The percentage of U.S. households that own their own home. [iii]

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