In the wake of the U.S. Census Bureau's recent report on the number of Americans living in poverty, it’s a good time to ask, What is poverty, anyway? The Census Bureau says that in 2008, it was an annual income of $17,330 or less for a family of two adults and one child, $21,834 for a family of four with two children, with additional increases for larger families.

http://www.epi.org/analysis_and_opinion/entry/making_ends_meet_on_21834_a_ye...