Poverty
The poverty line threshold of $1.90 per day, as set by the World Bank, is controversial. Each nation has its own threshold for absolute poverty line; in the United States, for example, the absolute poverty line was US$15.15 per day in 2010 (US$22,000 per year for a family of four), while in India it was US$1.0 per day and in China the absolute poverty line was US$0.55 per day, each on PPP basis in 2010. These different poverty lines make data comparison between each nation's official reports qualitatively difficult. Some scholars argue that the World Bank method sets the bar too high, others argue it is low. Still others suggest that poverty line misleads as it measures everyone below the poverty line the same, when in reality someone living on $1.20 per day is in a different state of poverty than someone living on $0.20 per day. In other words, the depth and intensity of poverty varies across the world and in any regional populations, and $1.25 per day poverty line and head counts are inadequate measures.
Primary poverty
The poverty line shows points where an individual might find themselves above or below the 'poverty line'- an idea Seebohm Rowntree developed from Charles Booth, the poverty line Rowntree drew has the age of the individual along the bottom, showing main events in the persons life that would affect whether or not they were above or below the poverty line. These events include becoming married; their children beginning to earn; when the children leave home and marry; finally when the individual is above the age where they can work. The three main areas on the line where the individual is said to be below the poverty line are from the ages 515, 3040, and 65+.