• Andy@slrpnk.net
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    7
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    20 hours ago

    I mean no offense, but I don’t think this is true.

    I don’t think anyone who makes $200,000 a year is considered poor under legal definitions or under the casual common use of the term.

    You could make $200k and be in debt. You could make $200k and be in a precarious situation. But I don’t think you can make $200k and qualify as in poverty, either legally or in the court of public opinion.

    • R1x38rexrper@lemmy.ml
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      1
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      edit-2
      29 minutes ago

      You can find elsewhere in the thread where the guy shared the chart about San Francisco. So, what I said is true.

      • Andy@slrpnk.net
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        edit-2
        3 hours ago

        I saw it, and it said that a household of eight living on an income of $200k would be “low income”.

        First, “low income” is not poor, either legally or in the informal definition of the word. Even according to the chart you’re referencing, $200k is far above the poverty line. It’s more than twice the cutoff for “extremely low income”.

        Second, this is also based on an absurd qualifier: It’s only “low” if you’re trying to support seven dependents.

        By this logic, $300k a year is poor too (if you’re supporting a household of 12), and a million a year is also poor (if you’re supporting a household of 40 in San Francisco).

        This is silly. If your monthly income is $16k you aren’t poor.

        You can still be broke. You can be in debt. But no: you are not poor.

        • R1x38rexrper@lemmy.ml
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          32 minutes ago

          OP didn’t really ask for your definition of the word. OP asked broadly and in quotes. And, yes with a large enough amount of mouths to feed and house, 300k could not be enough to support that and you could be poor. Granted, its unlikely.

          All of that aside, I think you’re just biased because you don’t live in an area like SF. To you 200k seems like a lot of money, so you can’t fathom being poor with that income. Poverty line in parts of the bay area is $150k.

          What you don’t seem to understand is the cost of housing. A 3 bedroom apartment or house (normal boring house) will cost between $5000-$20000/month. That is barely affordable on $200,000 after taxes.