the poverty line
noun
: the level of income that makes it possible for a person to pay for basic food, clothing, and shelter
families living below/at the poverty line
Examples of the poverty line in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Those identities often overlap: more than one in four Native Americans live below the poverty line, and the unemployment rate on some reservations is higher than fifty per cent.
—
Casey Cep, The New Yorker, 29 Apr. 2024
Almost 30% of residents lived below the poverty line in 1980, according to city documents.
—Morgan Fischer, The Arizona Republic, 22 Apr. 2024
Around 90% of patients fall below the poverty line, according to an email from the organization.
—Marina Johnson, The Courier-Journal, 22 Apr. 2024
Almost half of Myanmar’s population of 54 million is below the poverty line, with 49.7% of people living on less than 76 US cents a day — a figure that has doubled since 2017, researchers with the UN Development Program (UNDP) found.
—Helen Regan, CNN, 12 Apr. 2024
More than 20% of residents live below the poverty line, the report says.
—Hayley Smith, Los Angeles Times, 8 Apr. 2024
Many of the bloc's 8.7 million farm workers are close to or below the poverty line.
—Raf Casert, Quartz, 18 Apr. 2024
Concentrated poverty is typically defined as occurring within a census tract in which 40 percent or more of the population lives below the poverty line.
—Frederick Kaufman, Harper's Magazine, 26 Feb. 2024
The retiree, who once sewed socks in a factory, sees herself as part of the growing number of Argentines slipping below the poverty line.
—Natalie Alcoba, The Christian Science Monitor, 29 Jan. 2024
Casey Cep, The New Yorker, 29 Apr. 2024
Almost 30% of residents lived below the poverty line in 1980, according to city documents.
—Morgan Fischer, The Arizona Republic, 22 Apr. 2024
Around 90% of patients fall below the poverty line, according to an email from the organization.
—Marina Johnson, The Courier-Journal, 22 Apr. 2024
Almost half of Myanmar’s population of 54 million is below the poverty line, with 49.7% of people living on less than 76 US cents a day — a figure that has doubled since 2017, researchers with the UN Development Program (UNDP) found.
—Helen Regan, CNN, 12 Apr. 2024
More than 20% of residents live below the poverty line, the report says.
—Hayley Smith, Los Angeles Times, 8 Apr. 2024
Many of the bloc's 8.7 million farm workers are close to or below the poverty line.
—Raf Casert, Quartz, 18 Apr. 2024
Concentrated poverty is typically defined as occurring within a census tract in which 40 percent or more of the population lives below the poverty line.
—Frederick Kaufman, Harper's Magazine, 26 Feb. 2024
The retiree, who once sewed socks in a factory, sees herself as part of the growing number of Argentines slipping below the poverty line.
—Natalie Alcoba, The Christian Science Monitor, 29 Jan. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'the poverty line.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near the poverty line
Cite this Entry
“The poverty line.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/the%20poverty%20line. Accessed 3 May. 2024.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share