I would estimate that the average person only can work half their life. Most people cannot enter the work force before 20, and then they have to retire around 60 years of age. To get better training and more qualifications, many people stay in school well past 20. Additionally, many people have to retire early due to poor health or job-related injuries.
Unfortunately, most poverty rates only consider people poor if they make less in a year than a years worth of necessary expenses. In other words, if a person’s yearly salary can purchase a years worth of food, clothes, and shelter, then the poverty line does not consider such a person poor. However, in reality, since a person only can work about half their life, a person needs to make twice that amount.
Of course, that makes sense.
A person needs to make enough to pay off student loans and all debt collected as a child. Additionally, the person needs to save for their retirement.
Of course, a person may have reduced childhood debt if their parents paid for their childhood expenses. Nonetheless, the poverty line works out the same, because that means instead of paying that money as debt payments the person has to pay for their own children.
The government already sets ridiculously low poverty lines. For example, it expects a family of four to be able to live on only $5,000 each per year. It not only needs to more accurately reflect the cost of living per year, but it needs to recognize that a person usually only can work for half their life.
We need to double the poverty line.