Sure, the poverty line is somewhat arbitrary. Poverty and general well-being are multi-dimensional concepts that are hard to reduce to a single number. I think

Sure, the poverty line is somewhat arbitrary. Poverty and general well-being are multi-dimensional concepts that are hard to reduce to a single number. I think you're being a bit pedantic, though. The absolute number of those living in poverty can change with the stroke of a pen according to an arbitrary definition, sure. My interpretation is that the point of the article, and the thing that should be celebrated, is that life is on average getting better for the world community (even if only according to one metric). I'm sure the data scientist in all of us wants to see "well-being" broken down by vertical. For one, I'm sure the data you're looking for exists, is likely accessible, and it would be intellectually satisfying to our curiosity (who wants to do the legwork? :)). Two, I'd be skeptical of the assumption that they'd show anything but a trend in the same direction (though maybe not all at the same rate).