by Diana Pearce, Ph.D., with Jennifer Brooks
March 2002

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About This Report

An uncertain economy and major changes in welfare and workforce development policy have given new urgency to the question of self-sufficiency. As many parents leave welfare and enter the labor market, they join a growing number of families who are unable to stretch their wages to meet the costs of basic necessities. Even though many of these families are not poor according to the official poverty measure, their incomes are inadequate. But what is adequate income—and how does this amount vary among different family types and different places? To answer that question we have a new measure of income adequacy, the Self-Sufficiency Standard.

The Self-Sufficiency Standard measures how much income is needed for a family of a given composition in a given place to adequately meet its basic needs—without public or private assistance. Below we will explain the origin of the Standard; how it differs from the official poverty standard; how it is calculated; what it looks like for Nevada families; and how various public work supports, public policies, child support support and other available resources can help families move toward self-sufficiency.

We conclude this report with a discussion of the varied ways that the Standard can be used as a tool for policy analysis, counseling, performance evaluation, and research.

Preface

The Self-Sufficiency standard was developed for Wider Opportunities for Women as part of the State Organizing Project for Family Economic Self-Sufficiency by Dr. Diana Pearce, who was at the time Director of the Women and Poverty Project at Wider Opportunities for Women. Funding for its original development was provided by the Ford Foundation. A number of other people also have contributed to the development of the Standard, its calculation, and/or the writing of the state reports. The Standard would not be what it is without the contributions of Jennifer Brooks, Laura Henze Russell, Janice Hamilton Outtz, Roberta Spalter-Roth, Antonia Juhasz, Alice Gates, Alesha Durfee , Melanie Lavelle, Nina Dunning, Seook Jeong, Nicole Hoyes, Annie Henry, and in Nevada, Joe Edson, Susan Chandler, Jan Gilbert and Alicia Smalley. Nonetheless, any mistakes are the author’s responsibility.

The Progressive Leadership Alliance (PLAN) would like to thank our coalition partners for their assistance and support in the development of the Nevada Self-Sufficiency Standard: Susan Chandler; Alicia Smalley; Jill Winter; and Mark Nichols; National Association of Social Workers, Nevada Chapter; Brenda Carrera, Nevada Empowered Women’s Project; Tom Stoneburner and Kathy Stoneburner, Alliance for Workers Rights; Vicki LoSasso, Nevada Women’s Lobby; and Jon Sasser, Nevada Lawyers for Progressive Policy. The following PLAN staff members also assisted with the project: Joe Edson, Jan Gilbert, Bob Fulkerson, Liz Moore and Paul Brown.