絕對貧困

絕對貧困的"絕對"有兩個方面的含義：一是指界定貧困的尺度是絕對的，它以維持或滿足人的基本生存或基本需要為參照標準；二是指貧困的程度較深，處于絕對匱乏或剝奪狀態。在發展中國家，絕對貧困一般又稱為生存貧困或基本需要貧困，或者說，絕對貧困包含生存貧困或基本需要貧困兩個層次。度量個人或家庭是否處于絕對貧困狀態，其基本方法是由國家或社會設定一條民眾可接受的能滿足最低限度基本生存或基本需要的物質福利標準（即絕對貧困線），然后將個人或家庭的實際福利水平（收入或消費）與絕對貧困線相比較，處于貧困線下的個人或家庭就確定為絕對貧困人口或家庭。確定絕對貧困線的方法，主要有標準預算法、恩格爾系數法、馬丁法等。

Absolute Poverty

Absolute poverty has two criteria: First, the baseline for poverty is absolute; it refers to the basic living standards or basic needs for human subsistence. Second, it means a condition of extreme poverty, with a severe shortage of basic necessities of life or extreme deprivation of basic human needs. Absolute poverty is also called "subsistence poverty" or "basic needs poverty" in some developing countries.

To determine whether an individual or family is living under absolute poverty, an acceptable wellbeing line (absolute poverty line) is set for basic needs or minimum living conditions for subsistence, and the individual or family will be defined as suffering absolute poverty if their wellbeing (income or consumption) falls below this line.

There are a number of ways to define the absolute poverty line, such as the Market Basket Method, Engle's Ratio Method and Martin Method.