Editing Poverty threshold (section)

===United States===
{{See also|Poverty in the United States}}
In the United States, the poverty thresholds are updated every year by Census Bureau. The threshold in the United States is updated and used for statistical purposes. The poverty guidelines are also used as an
eligibility criterion by Medicaid and a
number of other Federal programs.<ref name=HHS-pg/>

In 2020, in the United States, the poverty threshold for a single person under 65 was an annual income of $12,760, or about $35 per day. The threshold for a family group of four, including two children, was $26,200, about $72 per day.<ref name=HHS-pg>{{Cite journal|date=17 January 2020|title=Annual Update of the HHS Poverty Guidelines|url=https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2020-01-17/pdf/2020-00858.pdf|journal=Federal Register|volume=85|page=3060|access-date=17 May 2020}}</ref> According to the US Census Bureau's American Community Survey 2018 One-year Estimates, 13.1% of Americans lived below the poverty line.<ref>{{cite web|title=2018 Poverty Rate in the United States|url=https://www.census.gov/library/visualizations/interactive/2018-poverty-rate.html|access-date=2021-05-16|website=The United States Census Bureau|language=EN-US}}</ref>
Other estimates place the percentage of people living in poverty as low as only 1.1% in 2017.<ref>The authors of ''[[The Myth of American Inequality]]'' wrote, "Real income of the bottom quintile . . . grew more than 681% from 1967 to 2017. The percentage of people living in poverty fell from 32% in 1947 to 15% in 1967 to only 1.1% in 2017."[https://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2022/12/the-myth-of-american-income-inequality.html TaxProf Blog]</ref>

====Women and children====
Women and children find themselves impacted by poverty more often when a part of single mother families.<ref name=":1">{{cite web |url=https://cdn.americanprogressaction.org/wp-content/uploads/issues/2008/10/pdf/women_poverty.pdf |title=The Straight Facts on Women in Poverty |website=cdn.americanprogressaction.org |date=October 2008 |access-date=1 April 2019 |archive-date=9 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709091921/https://cdn.americanprogressaction.org/wp-content/uploads/issues/2008/10/pdf/women_poverty.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> The poverty rate of women has increasingly exceeded that of men's.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Handbook of the Sociology of Gender|pages=127–145|doi=10.1007/0-387-36218-5_7|chapter=The Feminization of Poverty|series=Handbooks of Sociology and Social Research|year=2006|last1=McLanahan|first1=Sara S.|last2=Kelly|first2=Erin L.|isbn=978-0-387-32460-9}}</ref> While the overall poverty rate is 12.3%, women poverty rate is 13.8% which is above the average and men are below the overall rate at 11.1%.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://talkpoverty.org/basics/|title=Basic Statistics|website=Talk Poverty|access-date=1 April 2019}}</ref><ref name=":1" /> Women and children (as single mother families) find themselves as a part of low class communities because they are 21.6% more likely to fall into poverty. However, extreme poverty, such as homelessness, disproportionately affects males to a high degree.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://endhomelessness.org/demographic-data-project-gender-and-individual-homelessness/ |title=Demographic Data Project: Gender and Individual Homelessness |website=endhomelessness.org |date=22 April 2014 |access-date=10 April 2020}}</ref>

====Racial minorities====
A minority group is defined as "a category of people who experience relative disadvantage as compared to members of a dominant social group."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://federalsafetynet.com/us-poverty-statistics.html |title=U.S. Poverty Statistics |website=federalsafetynet.com |access-date=10 April 2020 |archive-date=8 March 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170308044424/http://federalsafetynet.com/us-poverty-statistics.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> Minorities are traditionally separated into the following groups: African Americans, American Indians, Alaska Natives, Asians, Pacific Islanders, and Hispanics.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://federalsafetynet.com/us-poverty-statistics.html|title=U.S. Poverty Statistics|website=federalsafteynet.com|access-date=23 March 2019|archive-date=8 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170308044424/http://federalsafetynet.com/us-poverty-statistics.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> According to US Poverty statistics, Black Americans&nbsp;– 21%, Foreign born non-citizens&nbsp;– 19%, Hispanic Americans&nbsp;– 18%, and adults with a disability&nbsp;– 25%.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://federalsafetynet.com/us-poverty-statistics.html|title=U.S Poverty Stats|access-date=23 March 2019|archive-date=8 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170308044424/http://federalsafetynet.com/us-poverty-statistics.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> This does not include all minority groups, but these groups alone account for 85% of people under the poverty line in the United States.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://federalsafetynet.com/us-poverty-statistics.html|title=U.S. Poverty Statistics|website=federalfasteynet.com|access-date=23 March 2019|archive-date=8 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170308044424/http://federalsafetynet.com/us-poverty-statistics.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> Whites have a poverty rate of 8.7%; the poverty rate is more than double for Black and Hispanic Americans.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://worldpopulationreview.com/countries/united-states-population/|title=United States Population|website=worldpopulationreveiw.com|access-date=1 March 2019}}</ref>

====Impacts on education====
Living below the poverty threshold can have a major impact on a child's education.<ref name=":2">{{cite journal |last1=Engle |first1=Patrice L. |last2=Black |first2=Maureen M. |title=The Effect of Poverty on Child Development and Educational Outcomes |journal=Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences |date=25 July 2008 |volume=1136 |issue=1 |pages=243–256 |doi=10.1196/annals.1425.023 |pmid=18579886 |bibcode=2008NYASA1136..243E |s2cid=7576265 |url=https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1002&context=psycd_fac |doi-access=free }}</ref> The psychological stresses induced by poverty may affect a student's ability to perform well academically.<ref name=":2" /> In addition, the risk of poor health is more prevalent for those living in poverty.<ref name=":2" /> Health issues commonly affect the extent to which one can continue and fully take advantage of his or her education.<ref name=":2" /> Poor students in the United States are more likely to dropout of school at some point in their education.<ref name=":2" /> Research has also found that children living in poverty perform poorly academically and have lower graduation rates.<ref name=":2" /> Impoverished children also experience more disciplinary issues in school than others.<ref name=":2" />

Schools in impoverished communities usually do not receive much funding, which can also set their students apart from those living in more affluent neighborhoods.<ref name=":2" /> There is much dispute over whether upward mobility that brings a child out of poverty may or may not have a significant positive impact on his or her education; inadequate academic habits that form as early as preschool typically are unknown to improve despite changes in socioeconomic status.<ref name=":2" />

====Impacts on healthcare====
The nation's poverty threshold is issued by the Census Bureau.<ref name=":3">{{cite web|url=https://aspe.hhs.gov/poverty-guidelines|title=Poverty Guidelines|date=23 November 2015|website=ASPE|access-date=1 April 2019}}</ref> According to the Office of Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation the threshold is statistically relevant and can be a solid predictor of people in poverty.<ref name=":3" /> The reasoning for using [[Federal poverty level|Federal Poverty Level]] (FPL) is due to its action for distributive purposes under the direction of Health and Human Services. So FPL is a tool derived from the threshold but can be used to show eligibility for certain federal programs.<ref name=":3" /> Federal poverty levels have direct effects on individuals' healthcare. In the past years and into the present government, the use of the poverty threshold has consequences for such programs like [[Medicaid]] and the [[Children's Health Insurance Program]].<ref name=":4">{{cite web|url=https://www.healthcare.gov/glossary/federal-poverty-level-fpl/|title=Federal Poverty Level (FPL) - HealthCare.gov Glossary|website=HealthCare.gov|access-date=1 April 2019}}</ref> &nbsp;The benefits which different families are eligible for are contingent on FPL. The FPL, in turn, is calculated based on federal numbers from the previous year.<ref name=":4" />

The benefits and qualifications for federal programs are dependent on number of people on a plan and the income of the total group.<ref name=":4" /> For 2019, the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services enumerate what the line is for different families. For a single person, the line is $12,490 and up to $43,430 for a family of 8, in the lower 48 states.<ref name=":3" /> Another issue is reduced-cost coverage. These reductions are based on income relative to FPL, and work in connection with public health services such as Medicaid.<ref name=":5">{{cite web|url=https://www.healthinsurance.org/obamacare/will-you-receive-an-obamacare-premium-subsidy/|title=Will you receive an Obamacare premium subsidy?|date=27 December 2018|website=healthinsurance.org|access-date=1 April 2019}}</ref> The divisions of FPL percentages are nominally, above 400%, below 138% and below 100% of the FPL.<ref name=":5" /> After the advent of the American Care Act, Medicaid was expanded on states bases.<ref name=":5" /> For example, enrolling in the ACA kept the benefits of Medicaid when the income was up to 138% of the FPL.<ref name=":5" />

====Poverty mobility and healthcare====
Health Affairs along with analysis by Georgetown found that public assistance does counteract poverty threats between 2010 and 2015.<ref name=":6">{{cite web|url=https://ccf.georgetown.edu/2018/03/08/research-update-medicaid-pulls-americans-out-of-poverty-updated-edition/|title=Research Update: Medicaid Pulls Americans Out Of Poverty, Updated Edition|date=8 March 2018|website=Center For Children and Families|access-date=1 April 2019}}</ref> In regards to Medicaid, [[child poverty]] is decreased by 5.3%, and Hispanic and Black poverty by 6.1% and 4.9% respectively.<ref name=":6" /> The reduction of family poverty also has the highest decrease with Medicaid over other public assistance programs.<ref name=":6" /> Expanding state Medicaid decreased the amount individuals paid by an average of $42, while it increased the costs to $326 for people not in expanded states. The same study analyzed showed 2.6 million people were kept out of poverty by the effects of Medicaid.<ref name=":6" /> From a 2013–2015 study, expansion states showed a smaller gap in health insurance between households making below $25,000 and above $75,000.<ref name=":7">{{cite journal |last1=Griffith |first1=Kevin |last2=Evans |first2=Leigh |last3=Bor |first3=Jacob |title=The Affordable Care Act Reduced Socioeconomic Disparities In Health Care Access |journal=Health Affairs |date=August 2017 |volume=36 |issue=8 |pages=1503–1510 |doi=10.1377/hlthaff.2017.0083 |pmid=28747321 |pmc=8087201 |doi-access=free }}</ref> Expansion also significantly reduced the gap of having a primary care physician between impoverished and higher income individuals.<ref name=":7" /> In terms of education level and employment, health insurance differences were also reduced.<ref name=":7" /> Non-expansion also showed poor residents went from a 22% chance of being uninsured to 66% from 2013 to 2015.<ref name=":7" />

====Poverty dynamics====
Living above or below the poverty threshold is not necessarily a position in which an individual remains static.<ref name=":8">{{cite journal |last1=Fullerton |first1=Don |last2=Rao |first2=Nirupama |title=The Lifecycle of the 47% |website=National Bureau of Economic Research |series=Working Paper Series |url=https://www.nber.org/papers/w22580 |date=August 2016 |doi=10.3386/w22580 |ssrn=2832584 |s2cid=157334511 |doi-access=free }}</ref> As many as one in three impoverished people were not poor at birth; rather, they descended into poverty over the course of their life.<ref name=":2"/> Additionally, a study which analyzed data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) found that nearly 40% of 20-year-olds received food stamps at some point before they turned 65.<ref name=":9">{{cite journal |last1=Grieger |first1=Lloyd D. |last2=Danziger |first2=Sheldon H. |title=Who Receives Food Stamps During Adulthood? Analyzing Repeatable Events With Incomplete Event Histories |journal=Demography |date=1 November 2011 |volume=48 |issue=4 |pages=1601–1614 |doi=10.1007/s13524-011-0056-x |pmid=21853399 |s2cid=45907852 |doi-access=free }}</ref> This indicates that many Americans will dip below the poverty line sometime during adulthood, but will not necessarily remain there for the rest of their life.<ref name=":9" /> Furthermore, 44% of individuals who are given transfer benefits (other than Social Security) in one year do not receive them the next.<ref name=":8" /> Over 90% of Americans who receive transfers from the government stop receiving them within 10 years, indicating that the population living below the poverty threshold is in flux and does not remain constant.<ref name=":8" />

====Cutoff issues====
Most experts and the public agree that the official poverty line in the United States is substantially lower than the actual cost of basic needs. In particular, a 2017 [[Urban Institute]] study found that 61% of non-elderly adults earning between 100 and 200% of the poverty line reported at least one material hardship, not [[Statistical significance|significantly]] different from those below the poverty line. The cause of the discrepancy is believed to be an outdated model of spending patterns based on actual spending in the year 1955; the number and proportion of material needs has risen substantially since then.

=====Variability=====
The US Census Bureau calculates the poverty line the same throughout the US regardless of the cost-of-living in a state or urban area. For instance, the cost-of-living in California, the most populous state, was 42% greater than the US average in 2010, while the cost-of-living in Texas, the second-most populous state, was 10% less than the US average.{{citation needed|date=October 2012}} In 2017, California had the highest poverty rate in the country when housing costs are factored in, a measure calculated by the Census Bureau known as "the supplemental poverty measure".<ref name=cen>{{cite news|title=Expensive homes make California poorest state|author=Matt Levin |page=C1 |date=2 October 2017|newspaper=San Francisco Chronicle}}</ref>

====Government transfers to alleviate poverty====
In addition to wage and salary income, investment income and government transfers such as [[Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program|SNAP]] (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as food stamps) and housing subsidies are included in a household's income. Studies measuring the differences between income before and after taxes and government transfers, have found that without social support programs, poverty would be roughly 30% to 40% higher than the official poverty line indicates.<ref name="Kenworthy">{{cite journal | last1=Kenworthy | first1=L | year = 1999 | title = Do social-welfare policies reduce poverty? A cross-national assessment | url = http://www.lisdatacenter.org/wps/liswps/188.pdf| journal = Social Forces | volume = 77 | issue = 3| pages = 1119–39 | doi = 10.1093/sf/77.3.1119 | hdl = 10419/160860 }}</ref><ref name="Bradley et al.">{{cite journal | last1=Bradley | first1= D | last2=Huber | first2=E | last3=Moller | first3=S. | last4=Nielson | first4=F | last5=Stephens | first5=JD | year = 2003 | title = Determinants of relative poverty in advanced capitalist democracies | jstor = 3088901 | journal = American Sociological Review | volume = 68 | issue = 3| pages = 22–51 | doi=10.2307/3088901}}</ref>