subsistence level(subsistence level The minimum level of consumption on which people can survive. This is an ambigous concept: does it refer to the level of consumption needed for an individual to survive for some limited period, such as a year, or the level needed for the expectation of life normal in a given society? In any case subsistence level is well below what is regarded as a poverty line in modern societies. OxfordEconomics Alexander Demidov)
