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If you define poverty as income related to costs of living and obtaining necessities for living, it should be entirely decoupled from income inequality. If the
by wpasc 6y ago
If you define poverty as income related to costs of living and obtaining necessities for living, it should be entirely decoupled from income inequality. If the poorest 20% of americans had their incomes triple over night without a corresponding increase of the costs of living and Bezos becomes a trillionare, poverty would have decrease with income inequality worsening. If the richest Americans all saw 75% of their wealth and income evaporate overnight while the poorest 50% americans lost 10% wealth and income, income inequality would reduce but poverty would still increase.
You might say that income inequality contributes to disparities in political influence which may cause more longterm poverty, but that link has far too many steps in it (political corruption for example) to say the two are now directly linked
- lumost 6y agoI think that definition is susceptible to defining the "necessities for living" in ways that underestimate poverty. How do you define what's the standard of living? As of 2021 I'd imagine that several necessities for interacting with society such as internet access and potentially even mobile access would not be universally viewed as required to be above the poverty line. Similarly while home ownership is probably not required to be above poverty line, is stable access to housing required? What about having sufficient savings to survive/social support to survive the loss of a paycheck without missing rent?
- d1zzy 6y agoWait, is mobile data access a basic right now? I am living very comfortably but never got a mobile data plan. I find them too expensive for what they are. YMMV.
- dx87 6y agoAt least where I live in Maryland, being on "welfare" includes a cheap smart phone because a lot of jobs assume you have one for things like driving directions, getting signatures, taking pictures of receipts, etc.
- girvo 6y agoEither mobile data access or internet access should be, yes. You need one of those to access the job market today (among other critical services). Smartphones have become so cheap that they are most people (especially those in lower socioeconomic brackets) only computing device, and having a phone number is also a prerequisite for society, so mobile data access is the common way to gain internet access for a large swathe of society. This is a global phenomenon too (and even more so in other countries).
- lumost 6y agoMany jobs of the modern economy require both a car and a mobile data plan. Consider Uber Driver Instacart Shopper TaskRabbit Redfin sales agent DoorDasher If someone falls below the point where they can afford the requirements for typical jobs, then they may enter into a spiral where there is no path out of poverty. There was a great moment of irony in my early career where lacking a job post-college ('08 reccession) I was unable to pay my student loans. 6 months after graduating I received an offer from Sallie Mae to work as an engineer, however due to corporate policy a sallie mae will not employ anyone who is arrears on their student debt. At this point, owing approximately $2000 and only had $250 to my name which was required for rent, food, and the 18 year old ford escort that I needed to drive to work. I was able to arrange the money, but ultimately I was within a day of being put out of work for lack of ability to pay a debt. Had this occurred I likely would not have been able to work in software, and in all likelihood the bank may never have gotten their money back on the student loans.