The National Academy of Science (NAS) reports that 47.4 million Americans lived in poverty last year, 7 million more than the government’s official figure calculated by the Census Bureau.

The discrepancy arises from using different formulas to calculate the number of people in poverty. The Census Bureau’s formula was created in 1955, and does not factor in the rising costs of medical care, transportation, child care, geographic variations in cost of living, or non-cash government aid. The NAS formula, which takes into account these additional dimensions of poverty, suggests that Census figures overlook millions of poor people.

The Census estimates the poverty rate is 13.2 percent, while the NAS estimates the poverty rate is much higher, at 15.8 percent, or nearly 1 in 6 Americans.

Read the full article from the Associated Press by clicking here.

Learn more about the issues surrounding the measurement of poverty by reading our definition of poverty measurement, and our paper on poverty measurement.

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