Question

Who are the near-poor?

Short answer

Near poor individuals live off an income marginally above the poverty line.

Step-by-step solution

Step 1.  Poor and near-poor

An individual is considered as poor when the income earned by the individual falls below the poverty line (the level of income required for attending the basic standard of living). The concept of near-poor is quite different from the concept of 'poor'.

Step 2. Near-poor

Near poverty in economics refers back to the country of living on an earnings marginally above the poverty line, defined by means of the U.S. Census Bureau at an income "between a hundred percentage and one hundred twenty five percent of the poverty line".

The population who have their incomes just above the poverty line are referred to as the near poor. They are often estimated to be the people with incomes between $100\%$and $125\%$of the poverty line.