ABSTRACT
For centuries, researchers, advocates and policymakers have attempted to quantify poverty at the individual and household levels, to define basic needs and count ‘the poor’. We present an overview of key United States wellbeing metrics. We then discuss, in relation to seminal theories of policy change, the Self Sufficiency Standard, a modern measure which helped shift conversation away from a traditional poverty discourse and towards contemporary definitions of need and economic security messaging frameworks. We conclude with discussion of challenges to the success and full adoption of measures of wellbeing.
