This post may contain affiliate links which may compensate us based on your interaction. Please read the disclosures for more information.
Many numbers can be thrown around for “poverty level.” Here’s the guide to clear it up.

How poor do you have to be before you’re in poverty? The answer is important because many social welfare programs determine eligibility by some measure of poverty — often based on the federal poverty guidelines. These include the Medicaid health insurance program and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which was previously known as food stamps. The federal poverty guidelines…