in particular the poverty rate commonly used in the eu represents the share of people with an equivalised disposable income after social transfers below the poverty threshold which is set at of the national median equivalised disposable income after social transfers eurostat glossary this indicator measures low income relative to other households in a country and not poverty perse it is rather a measure of peoplechildren who are at risk of being poor atkinson et al as described in report card unicef the relative child poverty rate shows the proportion of children who are to some significant extent excluded from the advantages and opportunities which most children in that particular society would consider normal the poverty rate is therefore a relative measure relative to both place and time