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Poverty

•Definition of poverty

•Distribution of poverty

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Definition of Poverty(World Bank)

• Poverty is hunger. Poverty is lack of shelter. Poverty is being sick and not being able to see a doctor. Poverty is not being able to go to school and not knowing how to read. Poverty is not having a job, is fear for the future, living one day at a time. Poverty is losing a child to illness brought about by unclean water. Poverty is powerlessness, lack of representation and freedom.

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Definition of PovertyU.S. Census Bureau

• U.S. Census Bureau uses a set of money income thresholds that vary by family size and composition to determine who is poor.

• If a family's total income is less than that family's threshold, then that family, and every individual in it, is considered poor.

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Poverty Concepts

• Absolute measure of poverty: • A specified level of income or expenditure below which a

person is considered to be impoverished.

• Relative measure of poverty: • A specified percentile of the income distribution below which

a person is considered to be impoverished.

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Poverty Concepts • Poverty line: Census Bureau definition of money

income below which a family is considered in poverty.

• Poverty gap: The amount of income it would take for an impoverished family to lift them to the poverty line.

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Distribution of Poverty• Overall poverty rates mask important issues of the

distribution of poverty across family types, racial, ethnic, and other groups within a society.

• Consider the incidence of poverty by family characteristic in Table 5.

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