Unfortunately the supplemental poverty measure doesn't actually measure poverty, just inequality. The definition is: The 33rd percentile of expenditures on foo

Unfortunately the supplemental poverty measure doesn't actually measure poverty, just inequality. The definition is: The 33rd percentile of expenditures on food, clothing, shelter, and utilities (FCSU) of consumer units with exactly two children multiplied by 1.2 http://www.census.gov/hhes/povmeas/methodology/supplemental/research/Short_ResearchSPM2010.pdf http://www.census.gov/hhes/povmeas/methodology/supplemental/... So if you were to reduce the income of everyone from the 34th percentile downward to exactly $1.24/day you'd actually reduce supplemental poverty.