The New US Poverty Numbers: Everyone, Just Everyone, Gets This Wrong
15th September 2011
Some grubby details: the US poverty line is calculated as being three times the food bill of a family in the early 1960s, upgraded over time for inflation. Doesn’t matter whether that’s a good definition or not, that’s just what it is.
When we calculate who is in poverty, who is below the poverty line, we include in the income said person or family gets their market income (of course) and also any cash that they get given directly by the government to alleviate their poverty. This seems sensible enough really, if you’ve got more cash you’re less poor than if you don’t have more cash.
However, we do not include in that household’s income all of the other things we do to alleviate poverty. We don’t include free medical care, or maybe help with the rent of an apartment or house. We don’t include any help that comes through the tax system nor do we include any vouchers: like Food Stamps for example.
In other words, it’s all bogus. Your tax dollars at work.