On 17/05/2016 21:57, Rod Speed wrote:


"Nightjar cpb.me.uk" "insert my surname here wrote in message
...
On 17/05/2016 10:01, Adrian wrote:
On Tue, 17 May 2016 09:25:28 +0100, Nightjar cpb wrote:
...
I didn't realise that you were a closet Marxist. I have always viewed
myself as a paternalistic capitalist, so my solution would be to
improve
the lot of the poorest, so that none fell below the poverty line.

But if the poverty line is defined as the percentage of median income...

It is a moving target, but that doesn't mean it isn't something we
should try to achieve.

It will never be possible to achieve no one below the poverty
line when the poverty line is defined like that. Basic arithmetic.

All that is required to achieve it is that half the population earns
between 60% of the median income and the median income. That may be
unlikely to be achieved in practice and, as Adrian points out, changes
in the median income may move people in or out of the poverty band, but
it is not impossible.

Any real poverty line has to be defined in terms of real standard of
living.

The studies that work on the basis of standards of living take a great
deal of resources. Comparing income is much simpler. As, in the UK, the
60% median income measure has been shown, in most cases, to be slightly
below the necessary income for a family to achieve an acceptable
standard of living, it is a useful measure to use.

--
Colin Bignell