• Restaurant chains from Subway to Arby's to Buffalo Wild Wings have a common owner.
• Roark Capital Group has been buying up restaurant chains for nearly 25 years.
• It's one example of how consumer brands have become consolidated under a handful of owners.

There's a good chance that just one private equity firm owns one of your favorite restaurant chains.

Over the last quarter-century, Roark Capital Group has bought up nearly 20 restaurant brands in the US. Its latest acquisition happened last year when it acquired Subway, which operates the most stores out of any restaurant chain in the US.

But Roark's holdings include other restaurants that you've probably visited before:

Other notable Roark restaurant holdings include coffee chain Dunkin', Arby's, Jimmy John's, Buffalo Wild Wings, and suburban mall favorites Cinnabon and Auntie Anne's.

The private equity firm also has investments in The Cheesecake Factory, which is publicly traded, as well as midwestern burger chain Culver's. It also owns the bakery chain Nothing Bundt Cakes and some franchises of Seattle's Best, that coffee chain you used to find at Border's Books.

Founded in 2001, Atlanta-based Roark has $38 billion in assets under management, according to its website.

The firm "was named after Howard Roark, the protagonist in Ayn Rand's book The Fountainhead," the firm's website reads. Rand's books have a following among libertarians and other advocates of deregulation and individual enterprise.

But the website adds: "As a firm of diverse viewpoints, it does not signify adherence to any particular political philosophy."

While Roark owns a lot of restaurant brands, it's hardly the only private equity player in the industry.

Hooters was acquired by TriArtisan Capital Advisors and Nord Bay Capital in 2019, for instance. TriArtisan also owns TGI Fridays and P.F. Chang's, according to its website.

Restaurants aren't the only consumer brands that have become more consolidated under a handful of owners. A handful of multinational corporations, from Nestle to Mars, own hundreds of food and personal care brands.

• Mark Zuckerberg isn't style icon by any means, but he's working on it.
• After spending years wearing the same thing, the billionaire is changing up his fashion.
• The internet is clearly loving Zuckerberg's new expression of himself through clothes.

Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg is known more for his accomplishments in the tech industry than his personal style, but it looks like the billionaire is finally taking steps (albeit small ones) toward becoming a fashion icon.

Zuckerberg — who's now worth $177 billion, per Forbes — burst onto the tech scene as a young coding prodigy responsible for the popular social media platform Facebook. All eyes were on him even in his early 20s, and the public quickly noted his laid-back style that consisted mostly of gray t-shirts.

Today, as a 40-year-old father and the head of a tech company that has expanded far beyond friend requests and pokes, Zuckerberg's look is again a topic of conversation.

In April, he debuted a chain necklace with his outfits, and the internet ate it up. Zuckerberg got the meme treatment and comments from his nearly 14 million followers complimenting him on his "drip," or style.

From lavish weddings and a big birthday bash in May to sitting ringside at UFC fights, his Instagram photos seem a little like those of an influencer.

Here's a look at Zuckerberg's style over the years.

Zuckerberg's style as Facebook took off was pretty normal for a twenty-something in the early aughts.

He dropped out of Harvard University to work on Facebook full-time in 2005, and his look at the time was that of a college student heading to class.

In the picture above, he paired his quarter-zip pullover with a pair of blue jeans — jeans which would become a recurring theme in Zuckerberg's life as a public figure.

The subdued outfit didn't really match the feisty attitude Zuckerberg had during the early days of Facebook. He infamously carried business cards that read, "I'm CEO, Bitch."

He's one of the tech execs who influenced the casual dress code of the industry.

Eventually, Zuckerberg became known for his gray t-shirts and hoodies.

The jeans might have ranged from light to dark washes, but he almost always paired them with a hoodie and a comfortable pair of sneakers—he's wearing Brooks tennis shoes in the photo above.

"I really want to clear my life to make it so that I have to make as few decisions as possible about anything except how to best serve this community," Zuckerberg said in a 2014 Q&A. "I feel like I'm not doing my job if I spend any of my energy on things that are silly or frivolous about my life."

Zuckerberg spent years wearing essentially the same outfit everyday.

The photos above were taken four years apart, but it might not be easy to tell. For over a decade, Zuckerberg wore the same thing over and over.

Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, said during an appearance on "The Colin and Samir Show" that Zuckerberg spent many years "not wasting any energy on deciding what to wear."

Instead, he just wore "the same thing every day for a long time as a lot of tech execs have done," according to Mosseri.

"First day back after paternity leave. What should I wear?" he captioned a Facebook post that showed a rack full of the same gray shirts and dark gray hoodies in 2016.

As the years passed, Zuck found ways to elevate the "tech bro" uniform.

Around 2018, Zuckerberg's style shifted, perhaps with his fashion meant to reflect his increasing wealth. According to Forbes, he was worth about $71 billion that year.

Instead of a basic shirt and hoodie, the Meta CEO started wearing expensive-looking cashmere sweaters and paired them with better-fitting jeans.

More recently, it appears he's gotten more comfortable with switching up his clothing choices.

The pandemic blurred the lines of what exactly makes an outfit appropriate for work.

Returning to the office post-lockdown has spurred a new conversation about dress code, but when you're the boss, those rules are likely a bit looser.

Zuckerberg is pictured above with Facebook's then-chief operating officer, Sheryl Sandberg, and the former White House Office of National Drug Control Policy advisor Kevin Sabet in 2021.

The trio had just left a session at the Sun Valley Conference, but Zuck looked especially casual next to his peers. He ditched the blue jeans for shorts and completed the outfit with slip-on sandals.

He appears to take more style risks when he's traveling abroad.

Zuckerberg and Chan took a trip to Japan in February, and his vacation attire made major waves.

Months before his chain went viral, the shearling jacket he wore while in Japan caught the public's attention. When he was out and about, his Instagram followers saw more of his off-duty style.

Again, it included a neutral top, fitted jeans, and a pair of sneakers — this time white Nike shoes.

The new jacket, a departure from his old hoodies, made for an iconic "jersey swap" picture, with Zuckerberg trading tops with another iconic figure in tech, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang.

Occasionally, he swaps his casual clothes for a classic suit.

Some events call for more formal dress, and Zuckerberg isn't too proud to push back on that.

For court appearances, luxurious weddings, and fancy ceremonies, he typically pulls out a classic black suit.

But for the March pre-wedding celebrations for members of India's richest family, the Ambanis, Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan wore all black, embellished with gold accents. He had a dragonfly on his lapel.

In 2024, Zuckerberg is going viral every few weeks for his new look.

The outfit he wore to his 40th birthday party in May cemented Zuckerberg's new era in fashion. He wore a gold chain and a black T-shirt, but unlike his past shirt choices, it had a message.

The top reads "Carthago delenda est," which translates to "Carthage must be destroyed," a phrase famously attributed to Roman historian Cato the Elder. As Business Insider previously reported, it was a rallying cry within Facebook in 2016 when it was competing with Google.

He also previously explained that the new chains are a part of his "process" of designing a "long-term" chain engraved with a prayer he reads to his daughters.

His motive is endearing, and the internet's obsession with the necklaces makes for a lot of viral content and positive attention.

"I love it so much," Mosseri said in June.

Just about 41 miles north of Dallas lies Celina, a small North Texas town that is America's fastest-growing city.

In Celina, American flags grace the sidewalks and the sound of country tunes fills its local businesses. Here, shop owners greet their customers by name, while neighbors exchange warm hellos as they ferry their children to and from school in shiny golf carts.

The hallmarks of urban life like bustling shopping malls with dozens of stores and parking lots are noticeably absent, and the city only recently welcomed its second Starbucks in October. However, Celina does have one commodity in abundance: newly-built homes.

Much like the intrepid gold miners of the Gold Rush, movers from all corners of the country are flocking to this once-overlooked city. US Census data shows a remarkable 26.6% population surge from July 2022 to July 2023, far exceeding the nation's 0.5% growth rate.

In 2010, the city had only 6,028 residents. By 2020, this number had increased to 16,739, and by 2023, the population had skyrocketed to 43,317, according to the census.

An analysis of Census migration data reveals that most new residents in Collin County, including Celina, come from Texas zip codes, as well as California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, and Missouri. There's also a significant number relocating from zip codes across Africa, Asia, Central America, and Europe.

Texas has surged to the forefront of domestic migration within the United States. While major cities like Austin, Dallas, and Houston have long spearheaded the state's dramatic population growth, smaller, lesser-known areas such as Celina, New Braunfels, and Katy are now taking the lead. Their rising popularity is partly attributed to what they offer that many bigger cities can't: a down-to-earth lifestyle, relatively low costs, and homes ripe for the picking.

"We're growing at about 20% every year," Ryan Tubbs, the mayor of Celina since May 2023, told Business Insider. "It's just astronomical growth when you think about the influx of residents and the number of housing permits. Even so, our vision is to maintain that small-town feel, no matter how big we get."

Celina is capitalizing on a wave of growth sweeping North Texas

Each month, Celina welcomes an average of 830 newcomers to the area — a trend that wasn't always the case. These transplants often arrive with higher incomes and larger budgets for homebuying.

Celina's transformation from mainly corn and cotton farmland into a rapidly expanding city, dotted with thousands of newly built homes, traces back to a developmental wave that has spread across Collin County, including nearby cities like Prosper, Frisco, and Plano.

Their metamorphosis into sprawling suburban metropolises has been greatly influenced by the ongoing expansion of the North Texas Tollway, which has increased accessibility to the previously remote cities.

The first 30-mile segment of the Tollway opened to drivers in 1968, spanning between downtown Dallas and Interstate 635. By the early 2000s, it had expanded to US Highway 380 in Frisco. In December, the North Texas Tollway Authority announced plans to extend further into Prosper and Celina.

With Celina becoming more accessible, numerous new housing developments led by builders like Taylor Morrison, Toll Brothers, and Highland Homes, combined with the rise of remote work, have heightened the area's appeal for both local Texans and transplant renters and homebuyers.

According to the city, from 2010 until June 2024, 15,062 single-family permits have been issued for Celina.

"Most of the new homes in Celina have been built north of the downtown area, closer to the border with Prosper," Tubbs explained.

Homebuyers have been drawn in by Celina's charming small-town vibe and its array of expansive, modern homes within meticulously master-planned communities. These tailor-made residential neighborhoods, often built on more than 2,500 acres of land and functioning like mini-cities, can vary in size from 100 to 50,000 homes, as noted by Bankrate.

In Celina's Highland Homes' Mustang Lakes neighborhood, residents are treated to an extensive list of amenities, including a 12,000-square-foot private amenity center, junior Olympic and resort-style pools, a fitness center, four competition tennis courts, an amphitheater, 18 miles of trails, playgrounds, an event lawn, as well as 14 lakes.

This type of community is not an exception in Celina — it has become the standard for homebuilders in the area.

"These types of communities are all-encompassing," Julissa Casas, a real-estate agent at the JC Porcher Real Estate Group, told BI. "There's a lot of different attractions and something for everybody. You don't necessarily need to go further out of the community, I think that is appealing to people."

The city's real estate market is booming

Aaron Graham, president of Highland Homes, told Business Insider that back in the 2000s, the company began building in Celina, but the timing was premature.

Now, the situation has completely flipped.

"We always knew Celina had the potential, but you have to build homes where the market wants to buy and in 2004 it was too far out of the way," Graham said. "The population growth has been astounding."

Highland Homes, which specializes in luxury homes within master-planned communities, has built several successful neighborhoods in Celina since 2020 including Mustang Lakes, The Parks at Wilson Creek, Cambridge Crossing, and the Mosaic. Home prices in these neighborhoods start in the low $500,000s and reach into the millions.

Graham said that to date, Highland Homes has closed 1,930 home sales in Celina, and by year's end, the total is expected to be closer to 2,100.

The abundance of relatively affordable homes in Celina has attracted numerous homebuyers from both the more costly West and East Coasts, according to Casas, who moved to Celina from nearby Little Elm six years ago, said.

"There are a lot of people coming from other states like California and New York," Casas said. "They're looking for small-town conservative areas." Movers are also seeking smaller communities with a variety of events, she explained.

"We have Cajun fest and the Troubadour Festival," she added. Cajun Fest is among Texas' largest crawfish boils, featuring live music, vendors, and carnival rides. Meanwhile, Troubadour is one of the state's premier barbecue and country music festivals. "They're also talking about putting in a rodeo."

New businesses are moving into the city

With more people living in the city, Celina's economy is also growing as local businesses and services benefit from increased demand.

Tracy Miller, owner of downtown Celina's decor boutique shop, Terramania, told BI that sales have steadily increased over the two years since its opening, and she anticipates this trend to persist in the years ahead.

"People are coming to see what's happening in this town, so our customer base is not just limited to Celina — it's everywhere." Miller said. "We're at that point where we're waiting for an explosion to happen."

Tubbs said the city is constructing a new city hall and expanding its staff to accommodate its growing number of residents.

According to him, Celina is adding approximately 40 to 60 staff members per year, mainly first responders, which brings the total number of city employees to around 350 so far — much smaller than Dallas, which had about 15,300 employees as of 2022, according to its city hall.

"We definitely pride ourselves on public safety," Tubbs said. "Between public works, fire, and police, these departments account for the majority of our new hires among city staff."

The city is changing but is holding onto its values

The influx of new residents from higher cost-of-living states like California, combined with Celina's notably higher median household income — $142,643 as of 2022 Census data, compared to the national average of $74,580 during the same time period — has also driven a demand for luxury amenities within the city.

Taking advantage of this trend, Centurion American Development Group is building a clubhouse named the 1876 Country Club, named for the year the Texas Constitution was adopted, in Celina's Legacy Hills development. The membership-only facility will feature an 18-hole golf course, tennis and pickleball courts, and fitness center.

The golf course is scheduled to open in the summer of 2025, with the clubhouse following suit in the summer of 2026. It will be open to members from various housing developments and communities throughout Celina.

"Everyone is moving to this area," Sandy Lewis, the club's director of sales, operations and membership, told BI. "This town doesn't have a fully private club yet, so it is primed and ready to welcome a club offering all age ranges and lifestyles, from social to golf. It's a great way to kick off in a town that is just beginning."

Despite the ongoing changes in Celina, the community spirit remains strong.

This became particularly evident following rainstorms that began in April, leading to a federal disaster declaration in June for several counties, including Dallas and Collin County in Texas.

In May, Celina, directly in the path of a tornado, saw six homes destroyed beyond repair and widespread damage, as reported by WFAA news station.

In response, residents united across the city, forming volunteer groups and providing prayers and mutual support. Many pitched in by clearing debris from homes, offering shelter, and even assisting with tasks like picking up diapers or pet food for those in need.

There is no official count on the number of residents who took part in volunteer efforts. However, Joe Monaco, director of marketing and communications for the city of Celina, told BI that there were "countless volunteers who came out."

Casas, who herself volunteered for the storm relief efforts, said that the sense of camaraderie is what makes Celina so wonderful.

"In Celina, everyone is there for each other," she said. "We get a lot of volunteers, and the city does a great job of organizing. That's what I love about the city — it is growing, but it still has a small-town community feel."

• I started working again shortly after the birth of my second son. My husband was a stay-at-home dad.
• I still helped out around the house to be the working parent I'd want if I was in his position.
• He's since gone back to work, and we're trying to keep the norms we established during that time.

Going back to work three months after the birth of my second son wasn't easy. But one thing made all the difference in this transition. My husband decided to resign from his job so he could bond with our youngest while also supporting our oldest in starting school.

My original plan was to return to work after six months, as I'm self-employed as a freelance journalist. I was largely offline for the first three months after giving birth; I wanted to give myself permission to just exist in that new baby bubble. But I was conscious that the more time I spent away from work, the more it was costing me — not just financially, but in terms of the momentum I'd built in my career.

The financial freedom to have just one parent working for an entire year is not something I have taken lightly. Yet the most memorable and impactful parts of my year with a stay-at-home husband are not the amazing home-cooked meals he made (and continues to) but how it's helped us see what true partnership is and define how we want to live our lives, the role we want work to play, and the kind of parents we want to be.

We've worked to challenge stereotypes in our relationship

I took a yearlong maternity leave when I had my first son, and though we technically fit into the outdated stereotypes of "breadwinner" and "homemaker" during that time, I often felt isolated without the connection of work. That's why, when my husband made the choice to be a stay-at-home dad, I didn't want to just be unavailable all day, buried in work.

I knew all too well the feelings of resentment, loneliness, and frustration that can crop up when you're with the kids on your own, envious of your partner's ability to have conversations with co-workers, uninterrupted lunches, and hot coffee. So I tried to be the working partner I would want if I were a stay-at-home parent — someone who could sense when another pair of hands could help take the edge off a messy lunch or out-of-control tantrum.

We had a fluid setup. In between working, I changed nappies, helped make snacks and lunches, washed dishes, and hung up laundry (I was also breastfeeding our youngest). Our house and family are a shared effort — not just the responsibility of the person who doesn't do paid work. It's a mindset I think more working dads could adopt to ease the "motherload" that many moms struggle with, including those who are working. Individually, we're not simply a breadwinner or homemaker. We're a partnership.

I learned a lot about double standards while my husband was a stay-at-home dad

While my husband was a stay-at-home dad, it opened my eyes to double standards. I was often told I was lucky to have him, but no one ever noticed that as a stay-at-home parent, he was also lucky to have such an involved, hands-on working partner. It's something dads are often congratulated for, yet it's expected of working moms. I was also regularly asked when he would be going back to work, as if it was assumed he wouldn't want to be a stay-at-home dad permanently. When I had my year at home, I was often asked if I was going back to work, rather than when.

My husband recently started working full-time again — a decision made for financial reasons but also because he needs to keep his career moving again. The new norms we've tried to create have since been difficult to uphold.

He is in the office just two days a week, so we still share domestic tasks fairly evenly. Being self-employed, though, I work most flexibly, meaning I, like most moms, have become the default parent when it comes to medical or dental appointments or appearances at school for performances or sports days.

It's just easier for it to be me rather than have my husband create tension among his new colleagues and get a reputation for being unreliable while he's still new. That conflict is something working moms are expected to accept while working dads' lives at home are often overlooked; the stereotypes of the "breadwinner dad" and "homemaker mom" are still very much alive in the workplace, and it can feel intimidating to openly challenge those.

In an ideal world, my husband and I would both work four days a week and get some of that equality back that we've been striving for. Financially, we could make this work, but he doesn't yet feel comfortable making that request. For now, I have cut work down from nearly full-time to just over three days a week, as we don't want to miss time with our youngest by sending him to day care full-time.

Going to things like toddler yoga with him and swimming lessons with my oldest gives me great bonding moments with my kids, which I'll never regret. There are two things I can't deny, though — I get a lot out of working, and falling into that breadwinner/homemaker dynamic again feels like a step backward.

But I understand that pushing boundaries takes not just confidence but time and space, too. Just as my husband gave me the time and space to give my career the extra push it needed after having our second son, I am now here to do the same for him. And I'd argue that's just as important in terms of true equality.

• Many Americans are struggling, but make too much money to qualify for social assistance.
• That's because the US poverty line is outdated, leaving behind workers who could benefit from help.
• Experts suggest modernizing poverty measures to reflect real costs and provide better access to aid.

Jason Hopkins, 43, has never made over $35,000 a year.

"If I made $45,000 a year, I would feel wealthy," the Illinois-based custodian told Business Insider.

Hopkins said he's lived paycheck to paycheck for the last decade. He's unable to save money from his income and doesn't go out; he buys a new shirt once a year. Existing like that is "draining," he said.

But he makes too much money for most forms of social assistance. This is a common predicament among Americans who are ALICE — asset-limited, income-constrained, and employed. Many forms of help are tied to the federal poverty line, which is calculated using a formula that has largely not been updated since the 1960s.

"The way we measure poverty is incredibly outdated," said Beth Jarosz, senior program director at the Population Reference Bureau, a nonprofit organization that conducts demographic analyses.

BI has heard stories from parents forced to choose between putting food on the table and supporting their children's education, older adults worried they will never be able to retire, childfree couples unable to access social services, and individuals concerned they will never be able to pay down debt.

These households could use more access to social assistance — but the US' poverty threshold is leaving them behind. If America modernized its way of measuring economic needs, millions of low-income families could better make ends meet. The real question is whether the US ever will.

The poverty line is calculated in an outdated way

The current federal poverty line for the 48 contiguous states and Washington, DC, is $15,060 a year for one person, $20,440 for a family of two, and $31,200 for a family of four. This does not vary by location or cost of living, but it's adjusted for inflation each year.

"Straight up, it is too low. It is not a sufficient way to measure how current families are doing," Kyle Ross, a policy analyst for inclusive economy at the Center for American Progress, told BI.

Per the most recent Census data, the official poverty rate in 2022 was 11.5%, or about 37.9 million Americans. In 2022, 42% of Americans were below the ALICE threshold, the amount households need to cover their essential costs, according to research organization United For ALICE.

Mollie Orshansky, a government worker, originally estimated the federal poverty line formula in the 1960s using USDA data, which showed people often spent around a third of their income on food.

But that doesn't account for how Americans actually live. Americans now spend just around 13% of their income on groceries, as food prices have fallen relative to incomes and housing costs have risen disproportionately. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, people spent 33.3% of their income on housing last year.

"With the way that costs have changed, the poverty measure that's just based on how much you're spending on groceries really does not reflect what people are paying for their expenses today," Jarosz said.

Over 30 government programs use the Department of Health and Human Services poverty guidelines — or higher percentages based on the federal poverty line — to determine eligibility criteria.

For instance, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is capped at 130% of the federal poverty line — which would be $2,694 in gross monthly income for a family of three — while the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) is 185% — $47,767 a year for a family of three. Head Start, the National School Lunch Program, and parts of Medicare and Medicaid are among other programs relying on federal poverty line eligibility.

Notably, some outlier programs like Supplemental Security Income, the Earned Income Tax Credit, and Section 8 low-income housing assistance do not rely on the federal poverty line.

"So much of federal policy, state policy is focused around the poverty level," Stephanie Hoopes, national director at United For ALICE, told BI.

That's all leading to an ever-widening gap of Americans who are technically in poverty but still aren't getting by.

"These thresholds have a cliff problem where they often become a trap where you have someone who is at a very low-income level and work because oftentimes programs have work requirements," Jarosz said. "Maybe over the holidays, they get an additional shift that they've picked up, and that bumps their income up just enough that they lose their Medicaid coverage that month."

That financial cliff has left people like Melinda Binkley, 56, "less than $100" away from receiving SNAP or rental assistance but struggling to keep a roof over her family's head in Stillwater, Minnesota. Ryan Arbuckle, 36, also doesn't qualify for government help on his IT job salary. He's a single father to five children near St. Louis and can barely afford groceries and utility bills.

Oleg Parubin, a 45-year-old security guard in Manhattan, makes $45,000 a year but struggles to afford insulin for his Type 1 diabetes and worries about eviction. Once he started making more at his job, he became ineligible for various benefits such as SNAP or reduced-fare transportation, which he estimates amounted to over $10,000 a year in lost benefits.

"I wasn't able to find an answer to how people can make it today, " Parubin said. "I just decided it is a faulty system, something is broken and doesn't work properly. But I still don't know what can I do."

To survive, these Americans who fall outside financial safety nets have resorted to selling plasma for extra income, skipping meals, and risking the loss of their electricity or water supply because of delayed bill payments.

"It really creates a lot of additional stress and burden on families in a case where having consistent benefits available to everybody would be much more efficient for society as a whole," Jarosz said.

There are better ways to calculate poverty

Though many experts agree the poverty line is outdated, it's still used to determine cutoffs for a slew of federal assistance programs, leaving people like Melissa Hedden behind.

Hedden, 41, has spent most of this year moving between Airbnbs and hotels in southeastern North Carolina with her partner and 11-year-old daughter. Her family's landlord raised the rent and evicted them last fall, and she can't afford the fees necessary to lease a new apartment. Still, her $3,300 monthly household income is too high to qualify for a rental voucher.

"I'm not homeless enough to get certain help because I have a roof over my head," she previously told BI. "But I'm too homeless to get a job because I don't know where I'm going to live in three weeks. What do you do?"

Much of the resistance to changing the federal poverty line could stem from the government's desire not to inflate the number of people in poverty overnight.

"No one really wants to be the politician that is behind an increase in poverty," Ross said, adding: "Even if it may be a more accurate representation of how Americans are really doing financially, it looks pretty concerning on paper."

Expanding eligibility would also mean that, intuitively, more people would receive assistance — and that could cost a lot more money.

"It can definitely be a costly measure to do that," Ross said. "I personally think that would be worth it; already, these programs are not meeting the needs of families as they are."

Other barriers to updating the poverty line are political. Congress would need to pass legislation in order to officially change the way the US measures economic need, or the Biden administration would have to step in, which would both be unlikely in such a polarized political environment.

Bills that expand social services and tax credits are also expensive and historically difficult to pass — most recently, with the expanded child tax credit being stalled in the Senate, and plans to expand Medicaid being blocked in multiple states this year.

Experts differ on how to fix poverty measures, but there is already progress on solutions

While researchers differ on how the poverty line should be tweaked, many agree it needs an overhaul.

"We know the poverty level is too low to reflect the true number of people who are in need," Jarosz said. "Is there really a need to have a threshold? Is there really a need to have a cap?"

And Ross said that even if thresholds don't change, programs could still work to eliminate many barriers to entry, like burdensome application processes — making them more accessible to people who do qualify.

Rep. Kevin Mullin, a Democrat from California, has introduced legislation — called the Poverty Line Act— that would modernize the federal poverty line, taking into account actual costs of goods and how prices differ across regions.

"The current poverty line is woefully out of touch with the realities that Americans face today," Mullin told BI in a statement, noting that the line doesn't account for how costs vary across the country — especially for key essentials like childcare and home rentals.

"Unfortunately, many working families make too little to afford their basic needs, yet because the federal poverty line is so low, they are not eligible for safety net benefits," Mullin added.

The federal poverty line probably won't be changed for some time, Jarosz said, given how many benefits programs rely on it. Still, there is precedent for programs providing more widespread boosts or sidestepping stringent eligibility and spending requirements.

The universal or guaranteed basic income model, which typically gives participants between $100 and $1,000 a month with no strings attached, has been tried over 100 times since 2019 and has helped thousands of households find housing and food security.

Unlike traditional social services like SNAP or Medicaid, participants can spend the money wherever they need it most. Basic income gives households an income floor, said Michael Tubbs, the founder and chair of Mayors for a Guaranteed Income and former mayor of Stockon, California, which launched the recent wave of GBI pilots.

"The top benefit is the choice and the ability to have agency and to figure out how to use your money because we know that no one's smart enough to think for everyone," Tubbs said.

Hopkins — the ALICE in Illinois — has benefited from government assistance before. When the pandemic hit, he received enhanced unemployment benefits and a stimulus check — two measures that, unlike many other forms of social assistance, were widely available and not constrained by the federal poverty line.

For him, that unprecedented support meant he could buy a house with his fiancé and live alongside two other roommates.

"The only way I could afford the down payment on this house is from the expanded unemployment during the pandemic and the stimulus," he said. "If we didn't have this house, I don't know how we would live."

Do you make above the poverty line but not enough to meet your daily needs? Reach out to these reporters at jkaplan@businessinsider.com, nsheidlower@businessinsider.com, and allisonkelly@businessinsider.com.

• Pope Francis warned world leaders that AI could "condemn humanity to a future without hope."
• The Holy See spoke about the dangers of AI at the G7 Summit in Italy on Friday.
• Francis urged politicians to make sure humans remain in control of AI, not the other way around.

Pope Francis became the first pontiff to speak at a G7 Summit — and he used his time to sound the alarm about the dangers of artificial intelligence.

Francis urged the politicians during the meeting in Italy to make sure humans always maintain oversight of the "exciting and fearsome tool" of AI, warning that if they don't, humanity itself could be in danger, The Hill reported.

"We would condemn humanity to a future without hope if we took away people's ability to make decisions about themselves and their lives, by dooming them to depend on the choices of machines," Francis said, according to the Associated Press. "We need to ensure and safeguard a space for proper human control over the choices made by artificial intelligence programs: Human dignity itself depends on it."

One of Francis's biggest concerns with AI is lethal robots that could make decisions on their own about whether to kill human targets without any human input. Francis pressed the world leaders to ban the use of these killing machines, advocating that, "No machine should ever choose to take the life of a human being," the AP reported.

This isn't the first time Pope Francis has voiced his concern about the rapid development of artificial intelligence.

Back in 2019, years before the release of ChatGPT rocked the AI industry as we knew it, Francis warned that if Silicon Valley leaders aren't careful with AI, the technology could cause humanity to regress "to a form of barbarism dictated by the law of the strongest."

And last year, the Vatican released a statement in which the pope stressed the importance of an open dialogue about AI's "disruptive possibilities and ambivalent effects."

The Pope also issued a lengthy statement in January — ahead of this year's upcoming AI-themed World Day of Peace — outlining the "grave risks" as well as the "exciting opportunities" that artificial intelligence could herald.

And the pope himself has been a victim of AI deception — last year, an AI-generated deepfake of him rocking an all-white puffy coat went viral before people realized it was a fake.

• Taylor Swift fans have named gathering outside of The Eras Tour venues to sing and dance "Taylor-gating."
• I tried it when I found myself in Edinburgh, where the UK leg of the tour kicked off.
• It was a surprisingly immersive experience. You could hear every song clearly through the speakers.

If you've never heard of "Taylor-gating," let me introduce the concept to you.

It's a trend that emerged quickly after Taylor Swift began touring with her blockbuster The Eras Tour last spring. Fans who missed out on tickets congregate in streets and parking lots near the concert venues.

They sing along and dance to their favorite song blasting from the stadium speakers — enjoying the concert without paying for a ticket.

There are many reasons why people "Taylor-gate." Some might have missed out on getting tickets because of the technical difficulties they experienced on sites like Ticketmaster or because the ticket prices were too high.

In my case, it was because I happened to find myself in the same city as The Eras Tour and had a free evening.

Even though I have tickets for one of the "Fortnight" singer's upcoming shows at Wembley Stadium in London, I traveled to Edinburgh the night Swift kicked off the UK leg of The Eras Tour.

It was mainly to report Swift's profound economic impact on the UK, as the 15-show tour is expected to boost the UK economy by £997 million ($1.26 billion).

However, when I wrapped up for the day, having spoken to local business owners in the city and countless fans outside the stadium, I decided to stick around out of curiosity.

'This is the best concert I've ever been to — and I'm not even inside'

"Taylor-gating" has been popularized thanks to Tiktok, where fans have shared their experiences of enjoying the concert from outside the stadiums over the last year.

One video showing hordes of fans passionately singing along to Swift's hit " 22" outside the gates of Philadelphia's Lincoln Financial Field last year has accrued nearly seven million views. At a Sydney concert, Australian fans were also inspired, showing up in their hundreds to dance and sing outside the concert venue.

It's clear that fans in the UK also got the memo.

"This is the best concert I've ever been to — and I'm not even inside!" I heard one girl exclaim to her parents as she returned to sit beside them after dancing in a circle with other middle school-aged kids.

Meanwhile, others who had tickets for subsequent nights of the show also chose to spend their night experiencing the concert from the outside.

Amanda, 40, who had traveled from the US with her daughter Maddie, 20, were due to attend the second UK concert the following day. She told said that she was just as surprised as anyone to find herself there when she could be exploring Edinburgh or enjoying a nice dinner.

"I wouldn't do this for just any artist," Amanda said.

Despite being outside, I felt like I was part of the concert

I was only going to stay for a little while, having noticed that as the time approached Swift's call time, hundreds of people were setting down picnic blankets on the large field behind the stadium.

But as soon as the opening notes of the iconic medley that starts the almost three-and-a-half-hour set began, I got swept up in the excitement and ended up staying for nearly the entire show.

Swift and her band could be heard loud and clear from the steps opposite the stadium where I decided to set up camp for the evening. Even her interludes to the audience came out crisply over the stadium speakers, making me feel like I was a part of the crowd she was addressing.

There was one downside

As she swept through her many musical eras, beginning with her superstar-cementing "Lover" album, followed by the up-tempo "Fearless," "Red," "Speak Now," and "Reputation" acts, those around me took to their feet, dancing and singing along.

It was a shame that Swift's segue into the more subdued combined "Folklore" and "Evermore" set coincided with a sharp drop in temperature and strong winds that brought down the energy outside. With no stadium lights keeping us warm, I noticed that many people had chosen this point to pack up and leave.

But if "Taylor-gating" is your only opportunity to experience The Eras Tour — which Swift has confirmed will not extend past its final date in December — I would recommend it. Just remember to bring layers.

• Running and rucking are both trendy in the fitness world.
• They both offer various cardiovascular benefits and can boost mood. 
• Experts said the benefits are similar so go with whichever one you enjoy more. 

Running and rucking are hot in the fitness world right now. If you're deciding between the two, experts told Business Insider to do whichever you enjoy more because both provide similar benefits.

Running, a mainstay in the fitness world, only continues to grow in popularity. Last year's New York City Marathon was the largest ever, with 51,933 runners, an increase of about 4,000 from 2022. And 165,000 people have applied for the 2024 race, the second most ever, behind only 2020, ABC 7 NY reported.

Meanwhile rucking, which involves walking or jogging with a weighted backpack, has become one of the buzziest trends in fitness. Guy Fieri said he lost 30 pounds over the last few years by hiking with a weighted vest uphill a few times a week (alongside eating a healthy diet), and it's beloved by Silicon Valley elites and legendary CrossFitters.

Rucking and running are both great aerobic exercises

Aerobic exercise, which both activities count as, can increase cardiovascular fitness, endurance, reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, and improve risk factors such as blood pressure, cholesterol, and insulin sensitivity, Dr. Allison Zielinski, a cardiologist and co-director of the sports cardiology program at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, told BI.

Higher levels of fitness are also linked to a longer lifespan, she said: Cardio lowers the risk of early death from any cause.

Luke Worthington, a top trainer and sports scientist whose clients include Naomi Campbell and Dakota Fanning, told BI that walking and running can improve body composition.

There are also some "hidden benefits," he said. Rotating your pelvis and ribcage, which you automatically do when you walk or run, can help the digestive system run more smoothly and improve the movement of lymphatic fluids.

Walking outdoors can also boost your mood and calm the nervous system. The adjustment and re-adjustment that the eyes and brain continually make when walking or running has been shown to improve parasympathetic nervous system activity, Worthington said.

Carrying weight is good for bone health

The biggest difference between rucking and running is the weight-carrying component. Walking with an additional load requires more work from the cardiovascular system and some of your muscles than unloaded walking, Zielinski said. So it uses up more energy and burns more calories.

But the health benefit or quantity of fat you lose from rucking and running will depend on factors like speed, terrain, hill grade, duration, and how much load you carry, she said. You're going to get more of a workout from sprinting up a hill than you would from strolling with five pounds on your back, for instance.

Regardless, carrying a load, which humans have done for centuries, can be beneficial for bone health, Worthington said. Applying force along the length of long bones, known as axial loading of the skeleton, is really great for maintaining bone and mass density, he said.

And because adding weight feels more difficult, it can create a higher sense of achievement, Worthington said.

Cardio won't help you build muscle

Worthington said that neither exercise would have any noticeable impact on building muscle or weight loss.

Increasing muscle mass requires three things: A calorie surplus (because you can't make something out of nothing), adequate protein, (the building blocks of muscle tissue), and gradually increasing workload over time, (whether through increased weight or mechanical tension), Worthington said.

Choose whatever you're likely to do regularly

If you're looking to establish an exercise regime, start slow and aim to be consistent, the experts recommended.

"I would say that for people who are not exercising, starting with walking, adding some grade, and then once they kind of get comfortable with that and feel like that's not very hard anymore, then adding a little bit of weight can up the intensity," Zielinski said. This might be easier on the joints than increasing speed.

Worthington said to pick whichever you enjoy more and are likely to do regularly. "Lots of different training modalities 'work' — the biggest issue people have is not doing them for long enough to actually allow them to," he said.

• A landmark study suggested we eat about 500 extra calories per day on ultra-processed diets.
• Scientists are working to disentangle why this happens.
• They're developing new recipes for ultra-processed foods they hope will be healthier.

It's been five years since nutrition scientist Kevin Hall made a startling discovery that changed the way we view ultra-processed foods.

Hall put 20 people — 10 women and 10 men — into a tightly controlled metabolic ward at the National Institutes of Health and watched what they ate for a month. Half the time, the study subjects were given only fresh, unprocessed foods, like Greek yogurt with fruit and nuts for breakfast, or a broccoli and beef stir-fry for dinner. For the other half of the month, they were offered the same amount of calories and key nutrients every day, but from factory foods like turkey bacon, English muffins, and chicken nuggets.

At the end of the month, the evidence was conclusive and damning: people who eat ultra-processed diets consume more calories, and gain more weight, without trying. It was the first randomized controlled study of its kind, and it changed the way we view ultra-processed foods. "Whole" food and "plant-based" diets took off, and "clean" eating has become trendier than ever, as people try to aggressively limit their intake of packaged goods.

But discovering that people eat about 500 extra calories per day on an ultra-processed diet didn't convince Hall that convenience foods should be universally shunned.

"What we're trying to figure out is, very specifically, what is it about ultra-processed foods that seems to drive over-consumption and weight gain?" Hall told Business Insider.

He wants to understand precisely why ultra-processed foods do what they do and what—if anything—we can do to make them healthier.

"If you can avoid them, that's wonderful, but most people can't," he said.

So, for over a year now, he's methodically invited 18 volunteers back to his special Bethesda, Maryland lab, to try out some newly formulated ultra-processed meals. By the time the study's over, in 2025, at least 36 people will have tried out the reformulated foods, and been monitored for weight gain, as well as hormonal changes.

Hall's testing out two big ideas, hoping that perhaps by baking some more of the bedrock concepts of nutrition science into ultra-processed eating, we'll be able to get smarter about our ultra-processed existence and make on-the-go eating healthier.

Ultra-processed foods attack our brains

We've known for a long time that ultra-processed foods are associated with all kinds of bad health outcomes, from more early death, to extra strokes, and additional heart attacks.

And we know that refined carbohydrates (white bread, sugar), syrupy beverages (soda, juice), and ultra-processed meats (hot dogs) are some of the most dangerous foods in the category.

But whether the entire category — all packaged, ultra-processed foods are inherently bad for us by nature — is still an open question.

One characteristic that separates many ultra-processed foods from their unprocessed counterparts is the calorie density. Each bite of an ultra-processed meal tends to have more calories in it, without nearly as much fiber as fresh fare. That may be part of the reason ultra-processed diets can lead to overeating, Hall said: simply because each bite is rich and high-fat, yet not very satiating.

Hall's second big hypothesis is that ultra-processed foods might drive people to eat more because they're "hyper-palatable," meaning they're rich in tantalizing combinations of fat and salt, or fat and sugar, or carbohydrates and salt.

Almost nothing in nature tastes that good to us — one of the only natural "hyper-palatable" foods is a mother's breast milk. "Breast milk can be sweet and fatty at the same time," Hall said. We may be evolutionarily attuned to find these rarer types of composed foods irresistible, a hard-wired survival instinct.

When we cook from scratch, it's near-impossible to include as much sodium and fat as factories do when fusing together ultra-processed foods. At home, combo dishes can still be hyper-palatable, but sugar and oils tend to bump up against watery vegetables and grains. In Hall's landmark 2019 study, only about 40% of the foods on the unprocessed diet were hyper-palatable, while roughly 70% of the foods on the ultra-processed diet were composed of these particularly "hyper-palatable" high ratios of salt, sugar, fat, and carbohydrates.

If the easiest, cheapest, quickest dinner option involves filling your plate with mouth-wateringly delicious but low-nutrition fare, that's exactly what you're going to do. The question is: can we do anything to make hyper-palatable foods a little less damaging?

Change the composition of your plate

For his new experiment, Hall is trying out a few different techniques to study where the link exists between ultra-processing and weight gain.

One idea: cutting back on "hyper-palatable" foods in some ultra-processed meals. So, while the participants may still consume more calories in each bite than they would when eating an unprocessed meal, they'll (perhaps) be less likely to overeat, since the foods won't be as irresistible.

Another idea is to cut calories by simply adding some non-starchy vegetables to a plate of ultra-processed foods.

"You end up with more salads, for example," he said.

If adding a side of veggies to a convenience meal ends up normalizing how many calories people eat, that could change the way we think about how we choose processed foods, and maybe even the way that manufacturers make them — if they want to change.

Can fast food ever be healthy food?

Hall has a more surgical technique he's trying out in the experiment, too. He's dissolving fiber supplements into some of the ultra-processed foods — stirring fiber powder into packaged yogurts, for example — to see if that curbs overeating and improves health outcomes.

This is a more straightfoward idea, and one that could be picked up by the food manufacturing industry if it shows promise.(Already, big food companies including Nestle are refomulating some packaged foods like frozen pizzas to include more fiber and protein, targeting patients on appetite-supressing GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic.)

If ultra-processed foods can actually be reformulated for health, I imagine something more idyllic than just some extra fiber sprinkled into frozen pizzas and yogurts. What about aisles of packaged goods with more beans, nuts, seeds, and less sugar in them than before? UPFs could also take a nod from traditional diets that we know work well, like Mediterranean foods rich in olive oil, lentils, chickpeas, and citrus, which are all relatively shelf-stable items that experts agree are good for your heart and your longevity. People could eat rice and beans out of a bag, or enjoy a side of vacuum-packed veggies, instead of potato chips. Those would be more health-forward choices than a "plant-based" treat like a high-fat pastry, no matter whether it is homemade or factory-built.

"All the things that we've known about for a long time," are still worth taking into consideration, Hall says, no matter how processed your diet is. Seek out nuts, seeds, whole grains like oats or quinoa, black beans, hummus, lentils, and — yes — unprocessed fresh veggies and fruit when you can. Avoid sugary snacks and refined grains. These are "all the things that the dietary guidelines already discuss ad nauseam."

• New York City received over 630,000 applications to join its waitlist for federal housing vouchers.
• But the city will issue just 20,000 new vouchers, amid a severe housing affordability crisis.
• A third of New Yorkers spend more than 50% of their income on rent.

Finding an affordable apartment in New York City has become ever more challenging for low-income people — and an expansion of key federal assistance isn't likely to help much.

When the city opened its waitlist for housing choice vouchers for the first time in 15 years earlier this month, it was flooded with more than 630,000 applications for the federal rental assistance program, Gothamist reported.

To be eligible, individuals can make no more than $54,350 a year, and families of four can't make more than $77,650. But the city is capping the waitlist at 200,000 applicants, selected randomly. Ultimately, though, it will only issue 20,000 new vouchers, bringing the total number of vouchers up from about 96,000 to about 115,000, the New York City Housing Authority said. This won't happen overnight — the vouchers will be issued at a rate of about 1,000 a month. And those on the waitlist have to reapply every two years.

As a result, just over 3% of those who've applied to be on the waitlist will end up snagging one of those 20,000 additional vouchers — about the same as the percentage who get accepted to Harvard University.

New York City has the largest housing voucher program in the country, but it still falls far short of need. Rents and home prices have skyrocketed in recent years, and increasing numbers of New Yorkers can no longer afford housing. More than half of New York City tenants are rent-burdened, meaning they spend more than 30% of their income on rent, and a third of New Yorkers spend more than half of their income on rent.

Of course, this isn't just a New York problem. Communities all across the country are facing severe housing affordability crises and don't have sufficient vouchers. Half of renters across the US are rent-burdened.

A flawed system

Housing vouchers are the biggest and most effective housing assistance program in the country. They help about 5 million people afford their rent every year.

There's lots of evidence that vouchers effectively lower the risk of homelessness, reduce dangerous housing conditions like overcrowding, and even help kids do better in school. And they significantly lower recipients' rent burden. Voucher holders pay about 30% of their income toward rent, while the Department of Housing and Urban Development covers the rest — up to what it determines to be fair market rent.

But Congress severely underfunds the program. Just about one in four Americans who are eligible for a federal housing voucher gets one, and about 10 million additional low-income households across the US are going without the help they qualify for.

And once someone gets a voucher, it can be difficult to use. With rents soaring across the country, it can be hard to find a home that fits the government's definition of fair market rent. And voucher recipients have a limited amount of time — usually just a few months — to find a home before they lose their voucher.

Discrimination against housing voucher holders by landlords is pervasive, even in places that prohibit it. Some of the resistance to vouchers from landlords has to do with the system's burdensome administrative processes that can make accepting a voucher costly and inefficient. For example, homes must be inspected by the local housing authority to make sure they meet a slew of health and safety standards. But that process can create lengthy delays, cause landlords to keep a unit empty and miss out on rent payments, and ultimately result in the voucher holder losing out on the home.

Fully funding housing vouchers is key. But the root of the problem in New York and elsewhere is a lack of housing supply. Until New York has many more homes, its vouchers won't be able to keep up.

Are you a New York City housing voucher recipient or a landlord who's struggled with the housing voucher program? Reach out to this reporter at erelman@businessinsider.com.