Developing a consumption measure, with examples of use for poverty and inequality analysis: a new research product from BLS

This study provides an update on the work being done by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) to produce a research-based consumption measure and explores its potential use in poverty and inequality analysis. For this study, and for most U.S.-based studies in the literature, the Consumer Expenditure Surveys serve as the base to develop the measure. The consumption measure presented in this study accounts for the flow of services from homeownership and owned vehicles, in-kind transfers from government and private entities, and for the full value of health insurance; very few researchers have accounted for all of these. The main contribution is to provide the literature with an update on BLS activities, which include a plan to include home production in the consumption measure and information regarding an upcoming BLS research series.