Reply #57: Poverty Line is Outdated [View All]

[durutti]

I'm surprised you didn't know that, Oh Great Economics Master.

The current poverty line hasn't been updated since the 1960s. They calculated it then by taking the minimum amount a family would spend on food in a week and multiplying it by three.

Today, housing and healthcare cost much more than food. And even the original poverty line didn't allow for *nutritious* food, transportation, and myriad other needs. By the admission of the very people who formulated it, it was inadequate then, and is extremely inadequate now.

Applying the same standards that were applied then to today's economy, the poverty line should be about twice the official one.

Using a realistic minimum needs budget, about a third of the American population is struggling, if not quite impoverished.