In 1963 economist Mollie Orshansky created this "line" by multiplying the cost of an adequate diet by 3
[DOC] [TLE] 14.1 Drawing the Poverty Line | Principles of Economics [PAR] In 1963, Orshansky, who was working for the Social Security Administration, 
published an article called ... Orshansky's idea was to define a poverty line based 
on the cost of a healthy diet.