“The current official poverty rate does not provide adequate information about who is poor or whether key programs are helping to make progress against poverty. According to a new PPI Fact Sheet, Impact of Modernizing the American Poverty Measure
on the Poverty Status of Older Persons, by Ke Bin Wu of the AARP Public Policy Institute, The current official poverty measure understates persons age 65 or older in poverty, largely because it is based on outdated food consumption patterns and ignores the cost of health care. In 2008, the experimental poverty rate for persons age 65 older was 18.7 percent, which was almost double their current official poverty rate.”