The poverty line sets a minimum level of consumption.
Poverty is defined by income, not consumption. Please go read the link I provided explaining how the census calculates poverty.
You're forgetting change in asset prices.
Unless you are proposing that most poor people are homeowners, and that the value of their houses increased in 2009, that explanation doesn't carry much weight.
Fun fact: only cash transfers are counted as income. A housing voucher, for example, pays for consumption, but does not count as income.
Poverty is defined by income, not consumption. Please go read the link I provided explaining how the census calculates poverty.
You're forgetting change in asset prices.
Unless you are proposing that most poor people are homeowners, and that the value of their houses increased in 2009, that explanation doesn't carry much weight.
Fun fact: only cash transfers are counted as income. A housing voucher, for example, pays for consumption, but does not count as income.