| Term | Definition |
|---|
| Lorenz Curve | A quick, visual expression of income inequality in an economy. A widely used graph of the distribution of income, with cumulative percentage of families plotted along the horizontal axis and cumulative percentage of income plotted along the vertical axis. |
| Gini Coefficient | A number between zero and one that measures the extent of income inequality in an economy, calculated by measuring the degree to which the Lorenz curve deviates from the line of equality. |
| Income | The amount of money received by an individual in a specific time period - daily, weekly, monthly, yearly. |
| Wealth | Accumulated assets one owns. |
| Life-Cycle Wealth | Wealth that includes non-money assets - your home, your car, your furniture, etc. |
| John Rawls | Harvard philosopher. "Rawl's Theory of Justice" (1972) if faced with the uncertainty of poverty, if forced to do so, people would accept income equality. |
| Poverty | The condition of lacking and adequate amount of money, belongings, and/or means of financial support. |
| Medium Income | One of two ways to identify poverty - the middle point of a society's income level. Those below the mid-point have reached the poverty threshold. |
| Poverty Threshold | An income level below that which is needed to support families or households. |
| Meeting Basic Needs | One of two ways to identify poverty - those people who do not have a "minimal acceptable physical standard of living." |
| War on Poverty | The name President Lyndon Johnson gave to his crusade to improve the lifestyle of America's poor, especially those in Appalachia. It included economic and welfare measures aimed at helping the large percentage of Americans who lived in poverty. |
| Cash Assistance | Government assistance in the form of cash payments. |
| In-Kind Assistance | Government assistance in the form of direct goods and services, such as medical care (Medicaid), housing assistance, foods stamps, etc. |
| Negative Income Tax | A proposed type of tax that would make cash payments to certain groups below the poverty line. Allows the poor to earn as much income as possible without penalty. |
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