• Andy@slrpnk.net
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    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
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      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.