what does it mean to live in poverty?

Question

a friend of mine says she is living in poverty but has a job she works at 3 days a week and also lives with her boyfriend which has a full time job.

Answer 1

Not having enough of what you need or what you think you need to survive. The word also means lacking as in lacking human kindness, humility etc.

Answer 2

Having been poor most of my life--and at some times poorer that at other times--I believe I'm qualified to answer this.

To be really poor means you don't have enough to cover the basic needs of life. It means having to choose between food and medicine, because you don't have enough for both. It means you're lucky if you can afford to go out to the movies more than once or twice a year. It means charging your groceries on a credit card, and then three years later having a debt collection agency drag you to court over a four-digit debt that you can't afford to pay back. It means having to live with relatives.

All this, and I'm single. Imagine what this is like for poor people with children!

Unfortunately, the way the job market is today, having a full-time job doesn't guarantee that you'll have enough to live on. Imagine making minimum wage or slightly more, and trying to pay for rent, utilities, grocery bills, transportation, and clothing--and that's just the basics.

I refer you to the book Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich to learn more about the working poor. I'll list a couple of her websites below.

And I haven't even talked about the unemployed, part-time workers, or people on welfare!

BTW, if anyone is wondering "How come she can afford a computer if she's so poor"--I don't own a working computer. I use computers at work, in the library, and at an inexpensive Internet cafe that charges $2 an hour.

Answer 3

It could possibly mean that beneath the facade of success, they have massive amounts of debt, lack emotional security.... don't have what they percieve to be a necessity.

true poverty means going to bed hungry, not being able to afford basic necessities, shelter, food, clothing.

It sounds to me that your friend is out of her mind and should pick up 2 more days a week if money is such a big deal. that's just lazy and petty.

Answer 4

True poverty - not being able to supply your basic needs.

Percieved poverty. Not having the right jeans and cell phone.

Answer 5

poverty to me is basically when the rest of society wants you dead and/or denies you intently. to survive back to lower class is the realization that people really do cull on the basis of income.

Answer 6

being poor but be careful because our definitions for poverty and what we consider to be poor differs as we're all different

Answer 7

to me it means living without enough food to eat. of course it can go deeper than that, and she's probably not got enough of what she wants in life. work more and get more of what you want in that case

Answer 8

If you have to ask you aren't.