poverty line

noun

: a level of personal or family income below which one is classified as poor according to governmental standards

called also poverty level

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web

Parents earning up to 18% of the federal poverty line are eligible for Medicaid coverage in Alabama. —Sarah Swetlik | [e-mail], al, 14 Mar. 2023

Sixty percent of India’s nearly 1.3 billion people live on less than $3.10 a day, below the World Bank’s median poverty line. —WIRED, 8 Mar. 2023

Low-wage work was defined as earning below the hourly rate for full-time, full-year work equivalent to the federal poverty line for a family of four, which currently stands at $30,000, or $14.42 an hour. —Aimee Picchi, CBS News, 24 Feb. 2023

The residents were randomly selected but had to be at or below 250% of the federal poverty line and fall into one of three demographic categories — a young adult between 18 and 24 years old, adults 62 years old and older and undocumented community members. —Chicago Tribune Staff, Chicago Tribune, 20 Dec. 2022

The data shows that about 22% of the county’s children in 2015 were considered economically disadvantaged – living 100% below the federal poverty line. —Krista Johnson, The Courier-Journal, 16 Nov. 2022

For instance, New York’s recent budget makes families who earn up to 300 percent of the federal poverty line eligible for subsidies, and caps their fees at 10 percent of their income. —Elliot Haspel, The Atlantic, 23 July 2022

Seniors with income between 150% and 135% of the federal poverty line would receive greater assistance with their out-of-pocket drug costs under the new plan. —Rachel Cohrs, STAT, 3 July 2022

Eligible patients must have gotten medical care at a hospital located within Cook County and either earn no more than 200% of the federal poverty line or have medical debt totaling at least 5% of their annual household income. —Alice Yin, chicagotribune.com, 7 Mar. 2022

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Word History

First Known Use

1901, in the meaning defined above