This is the third report describ-
Ing research on the Supplemental
Poverty Measure (SPM) released
by the U.S. Census Bureau, with
support from the Bureau of Labor
Statistics (BLS).’ The SPM extends
the official poverty measure by taking
account of many of the government
programs designed to assist
low-Income families and Individuals
that are not included in the current
official poverty measure. The
current official poverty measure
was developed in the early 1 960s,
and only a few minor changes have
been implemented since it was
first adopted in 1969 (Orshansky,
1963, 196Sa, 196Sb; Fisher, 1992).