I will define what I mean by basket, then.
The market basket measure is based on the assumption that there is a certain number of goods and services that a person needs to have a modest standard of living. If you add something to that basket, then you increase the number of people who can't afford it. If you subtract something from the basket, then you reduce the number of people who can't afford it.
In other words, the poverty rate can move up and down based on what is in the basket. It's different from the other measurements. LIM is very mathematical, very simple. It's median income divided by two. Anyone below that is considered low income. LICO is very simple, very mathematical. Anybody who spends more than 20% as a share of their income on basic necessities of life than was the case in 1992 is considered to be poor. It's mathematical. There is no human intervention at all. It's literally just mathematical. Above it, you're not in poverty; if you are below it, you are.
The market basket measurement has a whole basket of stuff that we say you need in order to have a modest quality of life: a house, presumably some form of transportation, food, etc. If you add a bunch of things like a smart phone, for example, then you move the poverty line very dramatically, through human discretion rather than a mathematical measurement.
That's why I'm coming back to the question again. Who decides what's in that basket?