Estimating Earnings Poverty in 1939: A Comparison of Orshansky-Method and Price-Indexed Definitions of Poverty
为1939年构建了与奥尚斯基方法可比的贫困线，利用1940年人口普查数据计算贫困率，并与前人研究比较，揭示价格指数化贫困线会导致不恰当估计，同时发现1960年前女性户主家庭贫困率上升趋势。
Official poverty lines do not exist for the United States for years prior to 1959. In this paper a poverty line comparable to the seminal line is constructed for 1939 using the Orshansky method. Poverty rates are then calculated using the earnings data of the 1940 Public Use Microdata Sample of the U.S. Census. A comparison with similar work by Ross et al. (1987) demonstrates the degree to which continual price indexing of the poverty line results in inappropriate estimates. A trend of increasing incidence of poverty among female-headed households prior to 1960 is also revealed.