THE INCIDENCE OF ECONOMIC-STRESS IN AFFLUENT AREAS - DEVISING MORE ACCURATE MEASURES

Several governmental programs attempt to relieve economic stress for given segments of the population. Their success is often contingent upon how accurately economic distress in given areas can be identified and measured. The indicator most commonly used is the poverty rate or a related measure, such as the proportion of persons with incomes below 150% of the designated poverty threshold. However, these poverty thresholds are determined nationally and thus fail to take account of local income levels or variations in living costs. Nationally-determined poverty thresholds obscure the existence of economic distress in affluent areas. This paper explores an alternate methodology that relates household income at the census tract level to county median household income in order to identify areas of significant poverty. The findings are then compared with official poverty statistics. The analysis is performed for Nassau and Suffolk Counties, two affluent suburban counties located on Long Island, adjacent to New York City. The data used came from the 1990 decennial census.