r/poverty

Post edit : “The more precise question is what is the real minimum income to be self sufficient and not rely on public or caritative programs. “ unfortunately I can’t change the title any more.

I come up with roughly 39,000 per year as the minimum pre-tax income required for a single adult with no children to cover bare-necessities living costs in the United States . 49% of the active population is earning less than 39,000 per year , pre -tax.

This is not an official government statistic. It is an estimate based on the MIT Living Wage Calculator, cross-checked against other self-sufficiency/living-wage standards.

The main source was the MIT Living Wage Calculator.

URL:
https://livingwage.mit.edu/

Inputs used:

· Single adult
· No children
· Full-time employment, 2,080 hours per year

The MIT Living Wage Calculator estimates the minimum income needed to cover:

· Housing
· Food
· Transportation
· Medical care
· Taxes
· Basic household necessities
· Basic civic and personal expenses
· Broadband/communications where applicable

It does not include:

· Savings or retirement
· Dining out or entertainment
· Debt repayment
· Vacations
· Middle-class or comfortable lifestyle spending

I collected the annual living-income figure for each U.S. state from the MIT Living Wage Calculator for one adult with no children.

State values ranged from approximately:

· South Dakota: $31,179
· California: $51,584

The simple average across all 50 states was:
· $36,842 per year including Washington, D.C.

The population weighted average across all 50 states was:
. $38,867 per year including Washington, D.C.

The figure is a state-level U.S. average. Actual costs vary significantly by county and metro area. Also a population weighted average would have been a more precise estimate.

I use

· $39,000 as a slightly higher, conservative round number

Other Supporting Sources to make sure that we are not far from consensus

2. Economic Policy Institute Family Budget Calculator
   https://www.epi.org/resources/budget/
3. United Way ALICE Thresholds
   https://www.unitedforalice.org/
4. Census Bureau Income Data
   https://www.census.gov/topics/income-poverty/income.html

Why Not Use the Official Federal Poverty Line?

The official federal poverty line is widely considered outdated and too low.

For a single adult, the official federal poverty guideline is roughly:

· 15,650 per year

This is only about:

· 40% of the $39,000 living-income benchmark

The official poverty measure was created in the 1960s using a food-cost formula and has not been modernized to reflect current housing, healthcare, childcare, transportation, and tax costs. Therefore, the living-income figure of approximately 39,000 is a more realistic measure of the minimum needed to live independently.

Important Caveats

· The figure is for a single adult with no children
· Families and households require higher income
· It is a bare-necessities standard, not a comfortable or middle-class income
· Many people earn above this but still struggle because of debt, childcare, medical costs, or part-time work

PERCENTAGE OF US LABOR FORCE

Using individual earnings data from the U.S. Census Bureau Current Population Survey, the approximate shares below $39,000 per year are:

Group Percentage below $39,000
All U.S. workers, including part-time ≈ 47%
Full-time, year-round workers only ≈ 21%
Entire labor force, including unemployed with zero earnings ≈ 49%

So for the broadest definition of the active/working population, roughly:

49% of U.S. workers fall below $39,000 per year.

Important caveat: this is individual income, not household income. Households can have multiple earners, so the household share below $39,000 is much lower, around 26%.

A tentative (AI assisted) breakdown of pre-tax living income for a single adult with no children. Please feel free to contribute and improve the parsing.

Spending category Annual amount % of $39,000
Housing $14,040 36.0%
— Rent/mortgage $11,100 28.5%
— Utilities: electric, gas, water, trash $2,940 7.5%
— Food $4,290 11.0%
— Transportation $5,460 14.0%
— Medical / health care $3,120 8.0%
Other necessities $5,070 13.0%
— Cell phone $960 2.5%
— Internet / broadband $840 2.2%
— Clothing / footwear $960 2.5%
— Personal care / hygiene $540 1.4%
— Household supplies / cleaning $600 1.5%
— Civic participation / misc. $1,170 3.0%

Taxes $7,020 18.0%
Total $39,000 100%

Being poor is depressing. Really depressing. It makes me hate my life because I can’t do anything. Everyone I know has money except for me. It’s so sad 😞.

Sorry to bleed. Just cried a little bit over how trapped I feel at age 58. Just work a little job 5 days a week. Don't have a lot of energy anymore. Don't have much money to do anything fun. Not ready for retirement. I tell myself I should be happy with what I have. I know I have more than some people. Just think of the people in 3rd world countries. Lol. Well I know it is not good to feel sorry for yourself. Just burnt out with life I guess.

Anyone have any ideas on what to do when you’re starving?

I often try to make my case for the implementation of a wealth tax on the 1% richest people of the world.

Usually when I have this conversation, it's either with poor people or with middle class people.

Basically I advocate that the assets (not their income) of these people should be taxed by 1%.

For some reason, middle class people have a really hard time wrapping their heads around this idea and almost all of them start talking about already paying enough taxes. I always need to explain to them that they certainly aren't the 1% richest people of the world and that I would definitely steer away from taxing them even more. We are trying to end poverty, not create more.

Quick numbers if anyone asks "but is there even enough money":

Top 1% globally sit on about $226 trillion. A one-time 1% tax on that is roughly $2.26 trillion. Ending world hunger costs somewhere between $40-267 billion a year depending on who you ask. Even at the high end, that's 8+ years covered from one tax hit. And in the US alone, top 1% average $16.5 million net worth vs $9,000 for the bottom half. Not a typo.

Are most women who are with broke men actually just investing in his potential? I've noticed that alot of women who are with broke men also express that they like his ambition. The ambition implies that he will one day get more money

Why is it rare to meet a woman who is totally fine with dating a broke man?

She would be poor without him as well, so why not add companionship and love to her life? Why deny a chance at companionship and love to instead search for a man who will one day have more money?

Why not exist in the condition of poverty together, or strive TOGETHER as a team to get more money? Rarely any man would look at a woman's financial status before dating her

I've noticed these days alot of dating is performative where the guy has to buy certain gifts / experiences for his girlfriend, else she will compare him to what she sees on social media. And then there's the whole thing about women wanting a provider man

So my question is, is it possible for a broke man to get a girlfriend? What if he doesn't have the ambition to get more money one day, but he's the nicest man ever? What happens when his girlfriend meets a super rich guy with the same qualities as her current man who is broke?

In order to bridge the gap from Capitalism to Communism you need a bridge of Socialism. Instead we are on course to go from Capitalism and slam into Socialism. One economic system for another. A tit for tat. No communism in sight. They’ll call it communism but it’ll be a socialist slave system. You’ll be told it’s communism and the rough times you’re having is just the transition but it’ll be the actual new normal of a socialist system replacing capitalism.

You’ll have an elite at the top, the middle man will be AI, and that middle man will be the controller of the bottom of society, basically the rest of humanity. And the middle man, AI, will actually be the new middle class.

In order to move up from the bottom rung, you’ll be required to merge with AI (middle man) in some form. I’m still unsure how it’ll be done, but you can see now on the periphery it’s being set up with neurolink and other technologies in R&D.

In a perfect transition, capitalist would be using socialism more heavily as a bridge strengthening and supporting the middle class till we become technologically efficient enough, and using AI, transition into Communism. Instead we’ve allowed billionaires to become plutocrats and influence laws and regulations that protect them allowing them to keep, horde and control resources.

Billionaires don’t pay taxes, and definitely don’t pay their fair share. They influence policy that allow them to become multi billionaires many times over.

Billionaires worldwide is a symptom that not enough socialism has been reinserted within the capitalist society to benefit all of humanity.

America should have at most 1 maybe 2 billionaires for the whole country in 2026, instead we have 900+. And a population with a whole lot of struggle and suffering to show for it.

I’m rooting for GenZ to rise up and do something. It’s their turn up to bat!!!

Anybody else feel like being in poverty/low income has basically killed their passions?
I’m 24F, couch surfing in NYC, living off cash assistance and EBT, and honestly just trying to survive. I’m in a cramped living situation and feel like I’m watching life pass me by. Everyone tells me I’m still young and that I’ll eventually figure things out, but I’m reaching a breaking point where I genuinely don’t know what to do anymore.
I grew up poor and feel like I was never given the opportunities, guidance, or skills I needed to figure out what I was actually good at or passionate about. Now I’m an adult trying to figure all of that out while also worrying about basic survival.
I hate retail and customer-facing work, but those are the jobs I keep falling back on because I need money. I know there are things I could do to improve my life, but my environment makes everything feel 10x harder. Hobbies cost money. Building a career feels impossible without connections or support. Even trying to explore what I actually enjoy feels like a luxury.
At this point, I’m so exhausted and desperate for stability that I’m genuinely considering going to nursing school, even though I don’t even know if nursing is what I want. I just want a path forward.

I genuinely do. Not just America but life in general. Since I was 17 I’ve always had a job cause going to my dream college was never gonna happen. Lost my job a few months ago while dealing with mental health issues, and I haven’t had a job since. The job market is so shit. I’m months behind on rent and I have medical bills up the mountain. It’s cool that I don’t have to pay for gas or insurance right now cause I don’t have a car but that fucks me even more cause at least I would have more options for jobs cause of distance.

I get upset when I look at my life a few years ago and realize how good I had it even if it was simple. Had money in my account, food in the fridge and was living in a safe neighborhood, getting to a from work easily. I still was fighting with my mental health since I was undiagnosed at that time but it was easier. But look at me now. Accounts in the negative, no job, bills due, barely food in the fridge. Then people wonder why I’m in and out of the psych ward.

I am homeless and get enough dehumanization in real life. I don’t use drugs or beg and take showers. You wouldn’t know many are homeless by looking at us. Some work jobs, some are disabled and some are elderly. In no way does this help and many in poverty are not far from homelessness. Often housed people in poverty look down on us when it could easily happen to them some day. Not sure why it’s allowed here.