It's frustrating.
What is so equally ridiculous about the poverty stats is that they are static
Almost everybody who is not born into privilege is poor at one time or another in their lives.
When I was a 19 year old college student juggling classes and two part-time jobs I was technically below the poverty line.
Yet by the time I was 24 I had a well-paying full-time job with complete benefits.
People who live their lives from birth to death below the artificial poverty line in America are pretty rare, and they either have behavioral problems or have very different priorities from an average Joe.
Absolutely. I was gonna say the same thing, but didn't want to make the post too long. And since poverty isn't static, why continue to make so much public policy based on the needs of a fluid population?
I think anyone who's been a student, or a young married w/kids, or a young married student w/kids :) knows what poverty is and certainly doesn't plan their life around being in that status the rest of their life.