Topics: Economics and Personal Finances, Socioeconomic Class. 1  Richard Fry is a senior researcher focusing on economics and education at Pew Research Center. 2  Rakesh Kochhar is an associate director of research at Pew Research Center.
In the United States, the Census Bureau determines who is poor using an economic poverty measure, by calculating official poverty estimates using a set of dollar-value thresholds, or minimum amount of income needed to meet basic needs, that vary by family size and composition.
Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) Health Related Quality of Life. For 2004â2008 Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQOL) data, based on a period of in the past 30 days.. U.S. adults experienced an average of 3.6 physically unhealthy days.