Comparisons of high and low incomes raise two different issues: economic inequality and poverty. Poverty is

measured by the number of people who fall below a certain level of income—called the poverty line—that

defines the income one needs for a basic standard of living. Income inequality compares the share of the total

income (or wealth) in society that different groups receive. For example, one of numerous ways to look at

income inequality is to compare the share of income that the top 10% receive to the share of income that the

bottom 10% receive.

In the United States, the official definition of the poverty line traces back to a single person: Mollie Orshansky.

In 1963, Orshansky, who was working for the Social Security Administration, published an article called

“Children of the Poor” in a highly useful and dry-as-dust publication called the Social Security Bulletin.

Orshansky’s idea was to define a poverty line based on the cost of a healthy diet.
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