Which agency is described as setting the poverty line and investigating causes of poverty?

• A. Department of Health and Human Services
• B. Department of Defense
• C. Department of Energy
• D. Department of Agriculture

Answer: (A)

Poverty measurements and research about why poverty happens are handled within social policy and welfare administration. The department that publishes the official poverty guidelines used to determine eligibility for programs like Medicaid, SNAP, and housing assistance is the Department of Health and Human Services. It adapts the Census Bureau’s poverty thresholds into guidelines that are used administratively, and it oversees or funds work that investigates the causes and drivers of poverty. The other departments listed don’t set these eligibility thresholds or lead most poverty-focused research: defense and energy are about national security and energy policy, while agriculture concentrates on farming, nutrition programs, and related data rather than establishing the poverty line itself.