FOR MANY PEOPLE, BEING poor feels more like an identity or series of experiences than a measure of income.
You may feel poor if you’ve overdrawn your account at the grocery store or spent nights sleeping in your car. You may feel poor if your parents were impoverished or if you can’t afford new clothes or a good education.
But the definition of poverty also goes beyond a feeling or an experience. There are governmental poverty measures and various income thresholds separating the impoverished from the lower-middle class. The definition of poverty can be complex. “You can feel that you’re really struggling, and you, in fact, may be really struggling, but your income could be well above the poverty line,” says Gregory Acs, vice president for income and benefits policy at the Urban Institute.
So, are you poor? Is asking this question a useful exercise? Here’s what to know about where you fall in the American economic class system.
Breaking Down Poverty by the Numbers
There are a range of measures individuals and families can use to determine whether they fall within a determined definition of poverty. The official poverty rate was 12.3% in 2017, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, and even higher for African-Americans and Hispanics. The 2017 poverty threshold published by the U.S. Census Bureau says an under-65 individual with no kids falls under the poverty level at $12,752 in annual income. That number increases as household size increases. A four-person household with two children under 18 years old reaches the poverty threshold at $24,858.
Another metric, the supplemental poverty measure, aims to improve the approach to measuring income and poverty in the U.S. with updated methods and data. In 2017, the supplemental poverty measure rate was 13.9%. The two-adult-two-child poverty threshold for 2017, according to the supplemental poverty measure, for households without mortgages was $23,261 and $27,085 for two-adult-two-child households with mortgages.
The Economic Policy Institute has its own Family Budget Calculator that strives to measure the income necessary to maintain an adequate standard of living in specific locations, including paying for health care, transportation and housing. For two adults and two children in the Chicago area, for example, that amount would be nearly $89,000 annually, a vastly higher number than the federal poverty thresholds.
Looking at Poverty Beyond the Data
Understanding whether you fall within a certain income threshold, based on family size and income, can be important to knowing whether you can tap certain state of federal anti-poverty programs such as the earned income tax credit or food stamps.
But the official metrics and figures don’t tell the whole story. “Our government’s official definition of poverty has very little to do with the day-to-day lived experiences of many Americans,” says Jeremy Rosen, director of economic justice at the Shriver Center on Poverty Law in Chicago.
For example, experts say that many people are working full-time jobs but cannot make ends meet due to high medical bills, child care expenses and housing costs. “I think we hear a narrative about a strong economy with very low unemployment, but what that tends to overlook in most cases is that so many people are technically employed but are working in jobs that just don’t allow them to earn enough money to pay for basic necessities,” Rosen says.
Additionally, people may fall in and out of poverty during the course of their lifetimes. “It happens at different parts of the life cycle and at different times,” says Elise Gould, senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute, a nonprofit and nonpartisan think tank based in the District of Columbia. For example, one 2015 study found that, by age 60, 6 in 10 Americans will experience a year in poverty, defined by occupying the bottom 20th percentile of the income distribution. But, Gould adds, “If you come from a poor household, you’re more likely to be poor as an adult.”
The definition of poverty can go beyond data. Not falling below the poverty line doesn’t guarantee that you don’t feel strapped for cash or that you don’t need assistance. Conversely, someone who earns a low income but has family support or access to wealth and assets may not be – or feel – impoverished at all.
How to Seek Help
Depending on your financial situation, there may be programs available to you on the federal or state level to assist with housing, food and educational expenses. Social Security, unemployment insurance and refundable tax credits such as the earned income tax credit are governmental programs designed to lift people out of poverty. Understanding whether you qualify and how to tap these benefits can be useful for forming a safety net.
Doing what you can to remain employed in a good job with promotion potential is also useful. “For folks who are poor but they are able-bodied and relatively healthy, the surest, best thing to do is to work and to work at a job that has not only has decent pay but also prospects for moving up,” Acs says. One study even shows that working for a company that doesn’t offer paid sick leave is linked to poverty, so finding or advocating for these benefits can be crucial.
But there are other larger-scale social and economic factors that can make individuals more likely to fall into poverty and stay there. Advocating for political and systemic change, such as a higher minimum wage, depending on your political leanings, may help make a larger difference.
Still debating whether you’re poor? You can look at your income, official poverty measures or the day-to-day struggle of covering your expenses. If you feel that you’re struggling, you’re certainly not alone and it’s worth looking into the social, political and federal programs designed as safety nets.