Answer to Question 1
The use of the absolute definition of poverty in many social policy decisions reflects the belief of many that the government should provide equal opportunities for people to achieve resources rather than ensure an equitable distribution of those resources. In this view, the government's role is to provide people with the minimum necessary resources that will enable them to achieve on their own.
Answer to Question 2
To take the relative nature of poverty into account, one suggestion might be to define the poor as those families who are on the lowest end of the income scale, say the 15 percent of people with the lowest income. Or the poor may be defined as people in those families with incomes less than one-third of the median household income in the United States.