Image courtesy of theatlantic.com

What does poverty look like?

We all have a library of images in our head that answer that question.

But today, the federal government paints a very different picture of poverty. 

Many poor families that the US government designates as poor own televisions, stereos and air conditioning. Plus, there’s no question that the poor in America are much better off than in many other nations.

But focusing on some of the relative luxuries enjoyed by the poor misses the point.

As the data above  shows, the prices of entertainment goods have fallen dramatically in the last 10 years. But more importantly, the prices of essentials like education, child care, and health care have been steadily creeping up. Yikes.

This tracks with a recent FiveThirtyEight analysis which concluded that inflation has hit the poor harder than the general population in the last two years. 

What’s even worse is that continued price increases on essentials make it harder to escape poverty.

As Jordan Weissmann of Slate put it:

A college education has become a necessary passport to financial stability. It’s hard to hold a job if you’re chronically ill. Working full-time is difficult if you can’t pay somebody to watch your child. While a high-definition television is nice, it won’t permanently improve your circumstances. 

So while it’s great that poor Americans can have nice things, don’t be fooled. Poverty in America still sucks. Big time.