"On the basis of consumption, Americans are far more equal than income alone would suggest." —Bruce Bartlett

"If the United States is truly concerned about poverty and its consequences, we must be aware of the real extent of economic deprivation in this society." —Ruth Sidel

There is no one-size-fits-all definition of poverty. The poorest people in an industrialized nation may well be richer than the average citizen of a less-developed country. According to the United Nations' Human Development Report 1996, the average per capita income of the poorest one-fifth of Americans was $5,814 in 1993. That figure is ten times Tanzania's average per capita income of $580 per year. By Tanzanian standards, Americans in that bottom 20 percent may seem quite well-off. However, by U.S. standards, they are not.

Politicians and social scientists have sought to define poverty for over three decades. In 1965, the government officially adopted the definition set by Mollie...