A new report indicates that an updated approach to measuring child poverty paints a rosier picture of New Mexico than a more traditional analysis has.
Last week, the child advocacy organization, New Mexico Voices for Children, announced the findings.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Official Poverty Measurement, or OPM, New Mexico’s rate of child poverty is the highest in the nation.
But according to the author of the new report, Emily Wildau, the OPM is based on food consumption patterns and costs that date back to the 1950s and 1960s and only includes a household’s cash income in its analysis.
Critics of the Official Poverty Measurement say it excludes non-cash benefits of anti-poverty programs and the income support of refundable tax credits in its determination of the rate.
The Census Bureau responded by creating the Supplemental Poverty Measurement (SPM) in the 2000s. It includes additional forms of income such as SNAP benefits and housing assistance and takes into account household expenses like child care and healthcare.
Where the OPM calculates a child poverty rate for New Mexico at about 27.5 percent, ranking it 50th in the US, the SPM poverty figure is 8.9 percent, placing New Mexico at better than average, 17th best in the country.
Report author Emily Wildau said in a virtual press conference, however, that both measures provide direction for state officials seeking to make improvements to child poverty. She says the OPM rating suggests that New Mexicans need better pay and laws that enhance family benefits.
"Increasing the minimum wage is really key to lowering our official poverty measure," Wildau said.
"So lifting people out of poverty through their wages and salaries and passing paid family and medical leave would also improve poverty by this measure, as families would not have to forego wages to bond with a new baby or care for a sick family member."
Wildau said New Mexico’s SPM poverty rate would improve with such policies as bolstered guaranteed income programs and increased child tax credits.
Another challenge overall, Wildau said, is improving access to benefit programs.
"New Mexico lawmakers and state agencies should really work together, to identify and remove barriers to program enrollment," Wildau said.
"[It] will also require working closely with community members and advocates to understand what it is that prevents them from accessing these benefits that we know have a really powerful impact on poverty rates in New Mexico.”
New Mexico Voices for Children report was the first in a series of poverty reports they’ll soon publish.
