The official US poverty line is based on assumptions from the 1960s that no longer match how people live, which means many struggling families are not counted as poor.

• The formula was built when one income could support a family of four, one parent stayed home, and jobs covered health insurance.
• Instead of updating what counts as poor, the government kept the original number and just raised it each year for inflation.
• Big modern costs like housing, child care, and healthcare were never added to the math.
• Today that outdated formula puts the poverty line near $31,000 a year for a family.
• It still decides who qualifies for welfare, food stamps, and school lunches, and it shapes how the economy's health is judged.

Outlook: Without a rewrite of the formula, official poverty numbers will keep understating how many people cannot cover basic costs.