NEEDS STANDARD: One of three basic income distribution standards (the other two are contributive standard and equality standard). The needs standard distributes income based on how many goods and services people require. A manual laborer, for example, who exerts more physical effort, would receive more income to buy more food that an office worker who burns fewer calories during the day. The U.S. welfare system primarily employs this needs standard when determining the poverty line and subsequent welfare payments.

     See also | income distribution | income | distribution standards | contributive standard | equality standard | welfare | poverty | communism | socialism |

NEEDS STANDARD, AmosWEB GLOSS*arama, http://www.AmosWEB.com, AmosWEB LLC, 2000-2025. [Accessed: July 18, 2025].

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The money function in which money is widely accept in exchange for goods and services. For an asset to function as a medium of exchange it needs value in exchange, but not necessarily value in use. This is one of four basic functions of money. The other three are unit of account, store of value, and standard of deferred payment.

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