How does the U.S. government define poverty?
In the 1960s, the U.S. government adopted a measure to identify those in poverty in order to establish eligibility for social welfare programs. You can read about the development and history of the U.S. poverty thresholds (also known as the poverty line) by going to http://aspe.hhs.gov/poverty/papers/hptgssiv.htm. Then look at the current calculations by going to http://aspe.hhs.gov/poverty/00poverty.htm. Using information from these Web sites, prepare a presentation for your class in which you discuss 1)the characteristics used by the U.S. government to determine the level of poverty, 2) the advantages and disadvantages of using this measure to determine poverty, and 3)alternative ways to measure poverty.
