Final answer:
The US government used Mollie Orshansky's Formula to establish the poverty line based on the cost to feed a family for a year, set at three times the cost of a nutritionally adequate diet.
Step-by-step explanation:
In 1964 the United States government adopted Mollie Orshansky's Formula to establish the poverty line. This conclusion was based on the amount of money it takes to feed a family for a year. Orshansky, working for the Social Security Administration, discovered that, on average, families spent one-third of their income on food. Applying her background in economics and statistics, she proposed that the poverty line should be set at an amount three times the cost of a nutritionally adequate diet, which would account for other family expenses as well. This measure of poverty, which centers on the ability to maintain a healthy diet, has played a key role in social welfare policy and understanding the economic status of American families.