[Svartalfiar]

They are talking proportion.

Yes, I would expect a poor person to spend proportionally more on food and housing than a rich person?

There is little to no logic in the argument as presented.

The comparison should have been decade to decade with the same class group.

What surprises me is that the poor's number is only 60% on food/housing. That leaves a decent portion of their income available, as there's not really anything else you can consider bare essentials.

[EBH]

Growing up lower middle class, I was taught that your home or rent should only use 25% of your income or less.

So, growing up for me was the early 80’s and the Reagan boom time. People worked, I had 3 jobs at that time striking out on my own. I couldn’t rent in the ‘nice’ part of town, but living in most of the shabbier areas wasn’t really as dangerous as it is today.

I think many are spending so much more for housing because to live in those areas today is to risk your life. The crime and gangs overrun everything.

Wise people make a tough choice...bite the bullet for a while to live in safer areas. There was a time when a person could do this for a year or two and expect a job promotion, find a better job, etc. The past decade hasn’t seen those opportunities.