Poverty line

Examples of Poverty line in the following topics:

• The Lower Class

  • The poverty line is defined as the income level at which an individual becomes eligible for public assistance.
  • While only about 12% of households fall below the poverty threshold at one point in time, the total percentage of households that will, at some point during the course of a single year, fall below the poverty line, is much higher.
  • Many such households waver above and below the line throughout a single year.
  • Lower class households are at the greatest risk of falling below this poverty line, particularly if a job holder becomes unemployed.

• Poverty

  • Poverty is the condition of not having access to material resources, income, or wealth.
  • The United States officially defines poverty using the poverty line.
  • The poverty line is set at an income level that is three times the approximate cost of a subsistence level food budget.
  • "Near poverty" is the term for an income level that is just above the poverty line; it refers to incomes that are no more than 25% above the poverty line.
  • In the United States, minorities and women are more likely to be living in poverty.

• Poverty

  • Poverty is the condition of not having access to material resources, income, or wealth.
  • The U.S. officially defines poverty using the poverty line, which is the official measure of those whose incomes are less than three times the approximate cost of a subsistence level food budget.
  • Near poverty is when one earns up to 25% above the poverty line; put otherwise, a person near poverty has an income below 125% of the current poverty line.
  • Absolute poverty is the level of poverty where individuals and families cannot meet food, shelter, warmth, and safety needs, while relative poverty refers to economic disadvantage compared to wealthier members of society.
  • Countries with low HDI tend to be caught in a national cycle of poverty -- they have little wealth to invest, but the lack of investment perpetuates their poverty.

• Relative Deprivation Approach

  • This differentiates relative deprivation from objective deprivation (also known as absolute deprivation or absolute poverty), a condition that applies to all underprivileged people.
  • This debate has important consequences for social policy, particularly on whether poverty can be eliminated simply by raising total wealth or whether egalitarian measures are also needed.
  • A specific form of relative deprivation is relative poverty.
  • A measure of relative poverty defines poverty as being below some relative poverty line, such as households who earn less than 20% of the median income.
  • Notice that if everyone's real income in an economy increases, but the income distribution stays the same, the number of people living in relative poverty will not change.

• Mexico's Economy

  • However, general GDP growth obscures some pervasive problems that have persisted and even worsened in recent years, including social stratification, poverty, and unemployment.
  • Poverty in Mexico is characterized as lack of access to basic human needs such as nutrition, clean water, and shelter.
  • Poverty can also include lack of access to extends to social services such as education, healthcare, security, and income.
  • Current figures indicate that as much as 44.2% of Mexico's population lives below the poverty line as defined by the country's National Council of Social Development Policy Evaluation.
  • Nonetheless, the government's current administration has made attempts to reduce poverty by providing improved education, healthcare, and job opportunities to citizens.

• Age and Income

  • With the introduction of Social Security, the poverty rates of the elderly in the U.S. dropped dramatically, as illustrated in the figure below.
  • Despite the success of the Social Security program in reducing poverty among the elderly, one unforeseen consequence has been the increasing poverty of people under 18.
  • Thus, individuals under 18 have seen some programs cut that would have otherwise helped maintain their lower levels of poverty.
  • While generally considered a highly successful program at reducing poverty among the elderly, Social Security is currently experiencing problems.
  • This chart depicts the percentage of the respective age groups that fell below the poverty line over the last 40+ years.

• The Status of Women in Mexico

  • In spite of purported economic growth, both women and men in Mexico have to deal with social stratification, poverty, and unemployment.
  • Poverty in Mexico is characterized as a lack of access to basic human needs, such as nutrition, clean water, and shelter.
  • Poverty can also include a lack of access to social services such as education, healthcare, security, and income.
  • Current statistics indicate that as much as 44.2% of Mexico's population lives below the poverty line, as defined by the country's National Council of Social Development Policy Evaluation.
  • In 2008, 33.7% of the population lived in moderate poverty, and at least 10.5% suffered from extreme poverty.

• The Dynamics of Poverty

  • Poverty operates in a dynamic cycle, with the effects of poverty increasing the likelihood that it will be transferred between generations.
  • This perpetuation of deprivation is the cycle of poverty.
  • The basic premise of the poverty cycle the idea that poverty is a dynamic process—its effects may also be its causes.
  • Without these resources, poverty-stricken individuals experience disadvantages that, in turn, increase their poverty.
  • People who are homeless or live in slums have low access to neighborhood resources, high status social contacts, or basic services such as a phone line.

• Measuring Poverty

  • Someone living in economic poverty may be homeless; someone living in social poverty may be illiterate.
  • The European Union's poverty threshold is based on relative poverty -- it measures how far below median income a person is, rather than whether or not they can meet their daily needs.
  • Poverty is usually measured as either absolute or relative poverty.
  • The World Bank uses this definition of poverty to label extreme poverty as living on less than US $1.25 per day, and moderate poverty as less than $2 or $5 a day.
  • Relative poverty explains poverty as socially defined and dependent on social context.

• The Feminization of Poverty

  • The feminization of poverty refers to the fact that women represent a disproportionate share of the world's poor.
  • Recent attempts to reduce global poverty have utilized systems of microcredit, which give small loans to poor households in an attempt to break the cycle of poverty.
  • Many factors place women at higher risk of poverty than their male counterparts.
  • Women in poverty also have reduced access to healthcare services and resources.
  • Increasing health services to women could, therefore, mitigate the feminization of poverty.