Social Policy Trends: What Does The Poverty Line Measure?

The federal government identifies who is experiencing poverty by comparing household incomes to a measure called the Poverty Line. What does this poverty line measure? Lifting people out of poverty is an important public policy goal. Some public policies are more successful at reducing poverty than others. Identifying which approaches are most successful is the task of policy analysts. Their conclusions depend at least in part on how poverty is defined. But that is controversial.