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*$30,900 = 27,610 Euros

11.6% of people in the U. S. lived BELOW the currently defined OFFICIAL poverty level

The official poverty line as currently defined is "three times the cost of a minimum diet in 1963" – meaning it's measured by how much families spent on food FIVE decades ago. The poverty line DOES NOT account for different regions costs of living.

The poverty line is used as a fundamental tool for people in poverty to receive almost ALL FEDERAL benefits such as housing, food stamps, tuition supplements, school lunches, public transportation subsidy, Medicaid, utility assistance & subsidized child care.

Congress hasn't raised the poverty line because they don't want to be responsible for statistically, but accurately, broadening the definition of poverty and increasing the number of Americans below the line by providing accurate data

Congress also hasn't updated the poverty line to reflect widely varying housing costs in different localities.

In 1963, the median household income covered about 34% of the typical home price. By 2022, this percentage had decreased to just 17%, indicating that home prices have grown more than twice as fast as wages over this period.

Congress has not changed the poverty level baseline because that could be viewed as UNFAIR to people living in a few regions with the lowest housing costs, mainly the rural South & Midwest.

For more info:

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2022/12/09/why-federal-poverty-line-not-effective/10827076002/