The Poverty Line is actually $140K for a family of 4. Why so many are struggling and angry.

[jmbar2]

Economics geek alert -

The following is an outstanding and detailed analysis of how the poverty line is calculated, why the real poverty line for a family of 4 is around $140K, and the hopeless gap in the middle where you earn too much for benefits, but not enough to survive.

The writer suggests that a lot of animosity towards the poor comes from the fact that the benefits they receive - SNAP, housing assistance, Medicaid -- enable them to live better than people making too much, but too little.

https://open.substack.com/pub/michaelwgreen/p/part-1-my-life-is-a-lie?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=4c1kmu

[Sanity Claws]

1. The True Cost of Living

United Way and other organizations have done lots of studies on the True Cost of Living and how the federal poverty levels is outdated.

Here is a link to the report that the United Way did for NYC's true cost of living, if you are interested, https://unitedwaynyc.org/true-cost-of-living/

[jmbar2]

4. Thanks for posting this

Really good breakdowns for NY area.

I really can't comprehend how working folks manage it there. Seems like one of the toughest places to survive on modest income of a working person.

[enigmania]

2. Good read!

[Cirsium]

3. K & R

Read this article.

Excerpt:

So that’s the trap. The real poverty line—the threshold where a family can afford housing, healthcare, childcare, and transportation without relying on means-tested benefits—isn’t $31,200. It’s ~$140,000.

Most of my readers will have cleared this threshold. My parents never really did, but I was born lucky — brains, beauty (in the eye of the beholder admittedly), height (it really does help), parents that encouraged and sacrificed for education (even as the stress of those sacrifices eventually drove my mother clinically insane), and an American citizenship. But most of my readers are now seeing this trap for their children.

And the system is designed to prevent them from escaping. Every dollar you earn climbing from $40,000 to $100,000 triggers benefit losses that exceed your income gains. You are literally poorer for working harder. The economists will tell you this is fine because you’re building wealth. Your 401(k) is growing. Your home equity is rising. You’re richer than you feel. Next week, I’ll show you why that’s wrong. And THEN we can start the discussion of how to rebuild. Because we can.

The wealth you’re counting on—the retirement accounts, the home equity, the “nest egg” that’s supposed to make this all worthwhile—is just as fake as the poverty line. But the humans behind that wealth are real. And they are amazing.

[MichMan]

5. Make the minimum wage $35 per hour

[jmbar2]

6. Would only be half of the sustainable level - $70,000

Too much to qualify for benefits, but only half of the sustainable wage.

You'd either need to extend benefits to cover the $70K gap, or pay $70/hour to hit the sustainable wage.

[MichMan]

7. The OP states the figure is for a family of 4

Assuming that both parents would be working, not just one.

[jmbar2]

8. That would work...