I'd be rather sceptical about poverty comparisons between the US and other countries, because the US is one of the few countries that doesn't officially accept

I'd be rather sceptical about poverty comparisons between the US and other countries, because the US is one of the few countries that doesn't officially accept relative poverty measures. This means that in reality poor people in the US may be much poorer in international comparison than it might seem on paper. Sometimes the comparisons are adjusted or correct, because they are not based on absolute measures, but I'd rather check the source of the figures first to see how poverty was measured in each country. The public should care about relative poverty, since social mobility and social stigma hinge almost solely on that and not on absolute poverty (for which the threshold is usually set in whatever lowest possible way that pleases politicians). Children of the poorest families have almost no chances of breaking out of that life, leading to ghettos, social unrest, criminal gangs, drug abuse, etc. You just have to go to Skid Row in L.A. to see the effects of poverty in action. There is a photographer who currently documents poverty and other problems in the US on Youtube, it's a very interesting watch.[1] [1] https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCvcd0FYi58LwyTQP9LITpA https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCvcd0FYi58LwyTQP9LITpA