| Poverty Line In The United States |
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HISTORY The first official poverty line for the United States was developed by Mollie Orshansky for the Social Security Administration in 1964 . It was amended, then later adopted for the Lyndon Johnson administration's War On Poverty as a general statistic on poverty. Orshansky's definition calculated the minimum amount of Income a family unit would need to purchase food for all family members to eat the cheapest nutritionally acceptable diet described by the United States Department Of Agriculture . She then multiplied that number by three because U.S. families spent an average of one third of their incomes on food. Orshansky did not intend this figure to measure the minimum income necessary for survival. Rather, she meant this as a statistical tool in order to facilitate the studying of issues of poverty. (From ''Fisher, 1992'') The U.S. Census Bureau now reports: :If a family's total income is less than that family's threshold, then that family, and every individual in it, is considered poor. The official poverty thresholds do not vary geographically, but they are updated annually for inflation using the Consumer Price Index (CPI-U). The official poverty definition counts money income before taxes and does not include capital gains and noncash benefits (such as Public Housing , Medicaid , and Food Stamp s). Official figures report that the cash income level of about twelve percent of Americans places them below the poverty line. However, these figures cannot be directly compared with official figures in other countries, as each country uses different measurements. CONTROVERSY The US poverty line is controversial, with some advocates claiming it ''understates'' poverty in the US and other advocates claiming it ''overstates'' poverty. For instance, it has been pointed out that many of the lowest ten percent of U.S. households, all officially denominated as poor, have possessions which were considered luxuries, or in some cases nonexistent, fifty years ago. {Link without Title}
Certain commentators have questioned the placement of the poverty line, asking whether people with access to such resources should be denominated as poor. Critics point out that while some of these items are not necessities they are much easier to produce today than fifty years ago, making them inexpensive. In the 1950s, a microwave cost more than two years of low-income rent; today one can be had for a fraction of one month's rent. Furthermore, present conditions are compared to an arbitrary time period (fifty years ago). If one chooses an earlier period -- say, a hundred years ago -- many more items would become luxuries or nonexistent (i.e. refrigerators, electric lights, gas ranges, etc.). Criticism is also made against the poverty line's non-counting of income other than cash income, which includes many welfare benefits. For instance, if food stamps and public housing were successfully raising poor people's standard of living to match the middle class, the poverty line figures would not change since they do not count transfers from food stamps and public housing as a form of income. 2003 On August 26 2004 the U.S. Census Bureau published its poverty report for 2003. The official poverty rate rose from its 2002 level of 12.1% to 12.5% . The total number of people below the poverty line rose by 1.3 million to 35.9 million. For a family of 4 persons the threshold was listed as $18,810 {Link without Title} Since 2000 the total number of people below the poverty line has increased by about 5 million. 2004 On August 30 2005 , the U.S. Census Bureau published its poverty report for 2004. The official poverty rate rose from 12.5% in 2003 to 12.7% in 2004. This puts the number of people officially living in poverty in the U.S. at 37 million. For a family of 4 persons the threshold was listed as $19,307 {Link without Title} SEE ALSO
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