Welfare entitlements can be increased to cover the added cost of prescription drugs for a child with asthma or additional transportation costs in a very remote area or the cost of child care to allow parents to work full-time in the paid labour force. Some poverty lines are better than others, but none of them is perfect . No matter how hard the experts try, they cannot escape the first three facts about poverty lines. Poverty lines will always be relative, poverty lines will always be arbitrary, and they will always be suitable for research and unsuitable as a measure of individual well-being. The most we can hope for is a useful research tool that is easily understood and widely accepted.
Some poverty lines are better than others at measuring changes in poverty over time.
That is a very desirable feature, because it allows researchers to see the impact of changes in economic conditions or changes in government policy. Statistics Canada's low income cut-offs are very good in reflecting the ups and downs of the economic cycle. However, poverty lines based on average or median income tend to change very little from year to year and are much less useful in measuring poverty over time. Some poverty lines are better than others because they focus on disposable income or cash on hand. The low income cut-offs are based on income after government transfer payments such as welfare, unemployment insurance or the Canada Child Tax Benefit but before income taxes.