But the World Bank’s poverty line of $1.25 per day (in purchasing-power-parity terms), which is used in measuring progress toward the MDGs’ poverty-reduction target, is not the only relevant threshold. When the poverty line is raised to per capita daily spending of $2, the global poverty rate rises from 18% to roughly 40%, suggesting that many people are living just above the established poverty line, vulnerable to external shocks or changes in personal circumstances, such as price increases or income losses.