My room mates all lived on slightly above minimum wage with part time hours. They were not in abject poverty. They were just plain poor. They still had cars, phones, video games, food, water, shelter. They each had an ACA plan heavily subsidized and probably were eligible for other welfare but didn’t use it as far as I am aware.
replyDo that for your entire life with no advancement. Do that with kids. Do that with elderly parents. Do that until you can’t physically work.
replyThe range of human experience is longer and broader than being a 20 something single young person
If you remove the word abject, the argument is:
reply> half of the US is living in poverty
This statement is also false.
> I encourage you to try to live on anywhere from $7 to $15 an hour
That's the bottom quintile, not the bottom half. The Median household income is $83,730, which would be more like $41.50.