Standard official measures of household economic well-being in several countries are based on money income. The general consensus is that such measures are limited because they ignore certain crucial determinants of well-being. We examine two such determinants-household wealth and public...

Using PSID data for the years 1984 to 1999, we estimate the level and severity of asset poverty. Our results indicate that the share of asset-poor households remained almost the same and the severity of poverty increased during this period, despite the growth in the economy and the financial...

Standard official measures of economic well-being are based on money income. The general consensus is that such measures are seriously flawed because they ignore several crucial determinants of well-being. We examine two such determinants - household wealth and public consumption - in the...

Using PSID data for the years 1984-99, we estimate the level and severity of asset poverty. We find that despite a sharp decline in the official poverty rate, the asset poverty rate barely budged over this period. Moreover, the severity of asset poverty increased during this period. The...