Poorly Understood

People misjudge the poor and those who are at risk of falling into poverty.

The concept of poverty has several definitions and measures, but it typically refers to a family or an individual who doesn’t earn enough money to secure the goods and services required to live anything resembling a normal life. In 2019, the US Census Bureau set the poverty line at $13,011 in yearly earnings for individuals and at $26,172 for a household with four people. These numbers change over time to account for inflation. A different way of looking at the concept is “relative measure poverty,” which is based on median income: An individual is impoverished if that person’s income is less than half of what the median income is in that individual’s home country. This approach allows observers to compare poverty rates between nations.

People who embrace stereotypes about the poor tend to regard the group as irresponsible “others.” They don’t think that ordinary Americans in mainstream society experience poverty in their lives. Many believe that impoverished people are unemployed...