Unlike the fabulously rich, those living at or under the poverty line in countries around the world have to make tough choices regarding what they eat on a daily basis. The poverty threshold, or poverty line, is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a given country. In practice, like the definition of poverty, the official or common understanding of the poverty line is significantly higher in developed countries than in developing countries. The common international poverty line has in the past been roughly $1 a day. In 2008, the World Bank came out with a revised figure of $1.25 at 2005 purchasing-power parity (PPP). Determining the poverty line is usually done by finding the total cost of all the essential resources that an average human adult consumes in one year. The largest of these expenses is typically the rent required to live in an apartment, so historically, economists have paid particular attention to the real estate market and housing prices as a strong poverty line affector. Individual factors are often used to account for various circumstances, such as whether one is a parent, elderly, a child, married, etc. “The Poverty Line” is an ongoing project by photographer Stefen Chow and economist Lin Hui-Yi that shows how much food people living at the poverty line in various countries can buy. The photos above show the different options in China, where 26,880,000 people live on ¥3.28 ($0.49) per day. Each image shows what one poor person can buy in one day. Grateful to be a witness through his camera, Stefen is a photographer with an unique eye and effervescent personality. Trained as an engineer and recognized as one of the top mountaineers in Asia, Stefen summited Mount Everest and numerous Himalayan peaks before being a professional photographer. For more information or to get in touch with Stefen follow the link below the video.
France: €5.60 ($7.68)
Nepal: रू33 ($0.45)
Australia: A$7.52 ($8.02)
Thailand: ฿52.87 ($1.71)
