Iran Parliamentary Think Tank Draws Rural-Urban Poverty Lines

The research arm of Iranian Parliament has determined the absolute poverty line in urban and rural areas of the country in its latest analytical study.  
An absolute poverty line is essential if one intends to judge the effect of poverty alleviation policies over time, or estimate the impact of a project (for example microcredit) on poverty, or identify “the poor” for a targeted food subsidy system. 
The determination of poverty line depends in large measure on the intended use of the poverty rates, i.e. the ratio of the number of people whose income falls below the poverty line; taken as half the median household income of the total population, the Majlis Research Center's website reported.