Abstract
Thesia I. Garner and Kathleen Short (2005) "Personal
Assessments of Minimum Income and Expenses: What Do They Tell Us about
'Minimum Living' Thresholds and Equivalence Scales?".
Subjective minimum income (MIQ) and minimum spending (MSQ) are the study
focus. Basic Needs Module (1995) data from the U.S. Survey of Income and
Program Participation are analyzed. A regression intersection approach is
used to estimate household thresholds. MIQ thresholds are higher than MSQ
thresholds. Both are higher than U.S. official poverty thresholds, and
thresholds based on a National Academy of Sciences (NAS) methodology.
Subjective threshold based equivalence scales imply greater economies of
scale than those in the other two measures but are similar to behavioral
scales. This finding suggests that families make trade-offs to meet their
minimum needs.
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