We examine three families of one-parameter functional forms for estimating Lorenz curves: power (elementary and Pareto), exponential (elementary and Gupta) and fractional (Rohde). The computing difficulties to determine the headcount ratio (i.e., the percentage of poor) have been underestimated....

When evaluating poverty, the relative poverty line may be considered as a percentage of the median income or it may be a percentage of the average income. It is proved that, with a poverty line relative to the median income, reducing poverty may become less costly in proportion to the total...