poverty line

noun

|Updated on: 10 Aug 2018

Definition of poverty line

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

See poverty line defined for English-language learners

Recent Examples of poverty line from the Web

Nearly half of the nation’s population lives below the poverty line.

— New York Times, "In Troubled Cameroon, U.S. Envoy Is Accused of Election Meddling," 12 July 2018
Fifteen million children live in families with incomes below the poverty line.

— derek thompson, The Atlantic, "Win a Game Show, Pay Off Your Student Debt," 12 July 2018
Activists feel emboldened by a recent agreement in principle in New York City to subsidize fares for as many as 800,000 residents who live below the poverty line.

— adam vaccaro, BostonGlobe.com, "Groups want the T to provide fare discounts for low-income riders," 6 July 2018
Under the Affordable Care Act, many states expanded their Medicaid program in 2014 to include more childless adults whose incomes bring them close to the poverty line.

— New York Times, "Declaring War on Poverty ‘Largely Over,’ White House Urges Work Requirements for Aid," 12 July 2018
The city, which was once known as America's foreclosure capital, has recently fallen on hard times, with one-in-four residents living below the poverty line and the median household income nearly $8,000 lesser than the national median.

— lukas mikelionis, Fox News, "California's 'foreclosure capital' to give away $500 a month to residents in experimental welfare program," 10 July 2018
The share of residents who live below the poverty line along the rail route is three times the county average.

— laura j. nelson, latimes.com, "The Valley will get light rail: Metro board approves north-south line along Van Nuys Boulevard," 28 June 2018
Most single mothers in Japan exist on less than half the national median income, the poverty line defined by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

— yoshiaki nohara, Bloomberg.com, "In One of the World’s Richest Countries, Most Single Mothers Live in Poverty," 24 June 2018
Today, an American living at the poverty line and receiving Medicaid and SNAP consumes roughly 25 times the value of goods and services as did the average person who has ever lived, and is expected to live more than twice as long.

— michael hicks, Indianapolis Star, "Hicks: We've got it good, and we don't even know it," 24 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'poverty line.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.