I " Cost of Living Differentials at Low - Income Levels

Intercity nationwide cost of living differences are estimated at low (poverty and below) income levels using the Bureau of Labor Statistics Urban Family Budgets for three higher living standards. In addition, intra-area big city-small city cost of living differences are extrapolated in the same way. The results support the conclusion that even the most extreme nationwide cost anomalies are not so large as to substantiate regionally differentiated income maintenance benefits or poverty thresholds. Such a policy would probably create much more inequity than it corr~cted. The intra-area differentials are smaller than inter-regional cost discrepancies in every case. Finally, a caveat is posed for the current welfare maze. Substantial money benefit differences in public assistance programs between the states are for the most part real benefit differences which may have caused unwanted migration of low-income households to high benefit