In the U.S. 49.7 Million Are Now Poor, and 80% of the Total Population Is Near Poverty

[bhikkhu]

27. I can say from the experience of the last few years, "near poverty" is very different from poverty

I make about $10k more a year at a new job now, and things are entirely different from the last 5 years. 5 years ago I was making a bare-bones $15 or so a month more than my fixed expenses. If the kids wanted to so anything like pick up some take-out food, or drive somewhere that would cost $10 in gas, or buy a birthday present for a friend, it was always a head-in-the-hands moment where I'd have to say "sorry, I just don't have any money now". And then eventually they just stopped asking for things or expecting anything. We got by, but it was terrible, really. We got a child tax credit every year and I squirrelled it away for the inevitable emergencies, dentist visits and so forth, and struggled and stressed to make it last until the end of the year. That went on for 4 hard years.

Now a little higher on the ladder, there's money in the bank and a decent cushion, and if I spend too much one month I just spend less the next month; not that that always works well, but the stress is mostly gone. I wouldn't say my life is similar to someone actually living in poverty now by any means or measure.