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
Individual metrics include the share of households living below the poverty line, share of residents who report being inactive and traffic volume on major roads.
—
Kamaron McNair, CNBC, 5 Apr. 2025
Classified as a lower-middle-income country by the World Bank, nearly half of Lesotho’s 2.3 million population live below the poverty line, while a quarter are unemployed.
—Michelle Gumede and Mogomotsi Magome, Los Angeles Times, 4 Apr. 2025
Classified as a lower-middle income country by the World Bank, nearly half of Lesotho's 2.3 million population live below the poverty line, while a quarter are unemployed.
—Arkansas Online, 4 Apr. 2025
The tech and business elite stand to gain even more money and power, and – in a world where socioeconomic disparities are already pushing 11.1% of Americans over the poverty line, with almost half of Americans living paycheck-to-paycheck – the working class stands to lose even more.
—Rebekah Bastian, Forbes.com, 4 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for the poverty line
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Kamaron McNair, CNBC, 5 Apr. 2025
Classified as a lower-middle-income country by the World Bank, nearly half of Lesotho’s 2.3 million population live below the poverty line, while a quarter are unemployed.
—Michelle Gumede and Mogomotsi Magome, Los Angeles Times, 4 Apr. 2025
Classified as a lower-middle income country by the World Bank, nearly half of Lesotho's 2.3 million population live below the poverty line, while a quarter are unemployed.
—Arkansas Online, 4 Apr. 2025
The tech and business elite stand to gain even more money and power, and – in a world where socioeconomic disparities are already pushing 11.1% of Americans over the poverty line, with almost half of Americans living paycheck-to-paycheck – the working class stands to lose even more.
—Rebekah Bastian, Forbes.com, 4 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for 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 24 Apr. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share