Welfare does not count as "income" for determining whether a household is defined as poor by the government. This greatly diminishes the relation between its definition of poverty and the reality of poverty. But, of course, the Left considers close relations with reality too painful to contemplate, much less seek out. Hence, this rather successful propaganda campaign that brays about the high "poverty" level and the need to increase welfare spending (though the poverty determination formula prevents even a tripling of welfare spending from impacting the "poverty" rate). What we have here is another number without a comprehensible meaning to the vast majority of Americans. But, who can compete for public legitimacy with the propagandizers of the Census Bureau who churn out these lies?
Another important reality rarely noted is the incentive structure the government foists upon the poor to not work too much or get married: both work and marriage reduce the various forms of welfare payments.
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