[dudeinjapan]

There should be a universal human standard to define what extreme poverty is--i.e. the amount needed to secure food, shelter, and clothing--and then that amount should be assessed country-by-country (or region-by-region) by an independent body. The number of $3 per day is well above the "basic needs" threshold in some of the poorest countries, and well below it in the US, for example.

[ivape]

Makes you wonder what the real purpose of that number was. Must have served some agenda, because saying some people live on less than $3 (when it's not a fair statement) definitely could serve a purpose.

[owebmaster]

How is that not a fair statement?

[ivape]

$3 USD can buy you basic things per day like food, but it won’t buy you that in America, for example. It’s not a fair metric at all.

$3 buys you various foods in various parts of the world, which would not put you in abject poverty.

[owebmaster]

$3 a day makes you filthy poor in South America and probably everywhere besides India but there are still poorer people there.

[ivape]

Can’t look at it like that.

Does the person buy food and basics per day? Then don’t worry about what the dollar amount equates to. It’s a ridiculous metric when it comes to measuring abject poverty.

[duskwuff]

This is addressed in the article - see the section titled "Estimating comparable national distributions". (In short: income is being scaled relative to purchasing power parity.)