Interesting (but actually sad) fact of the day

Andrew is in the process of filling out some forms for the government. One question they asked was whether my salary alone is enough to support us both, and still keep us above the poverty line. (This is the government's way of checking whether my new husband plans to be a leech on American society.) We were hoping the answer would be yes, I can support us both, because then we'd have to fill out fewer forms. And, looking up the poverty level for two, I can indeed provide for my family. In fact, if you add our two salaries together (remember, we are both lavishly paid graduate students), the government has declared that the sum is large enough for us to support six children and still remain comfortably above the poverty line.

Does anyone else think perhaps the standards are just set a wee bit too low?