Poverty Line Vs. Tolerable Living

The poverty line for a family of my size in the U.S. is $23,500 per year. Yes, we fall below that line.

However, I feel like, no I know, the number is too low.

There is a level at which the expectation is that living is not just surviving, but actually tolerable. I would like to introduce you to a term, "tolerable living". I don't think there should be a poverty "line", I think assistance should taper off in a sliding scale manner up to a certain point. Tolerable living line? Everyone below it should have access to the same programs and assistance currently available to anyone below the poverty line, and those below the actual poverty line should receive additional assistance. Why do I think this? Well, it should be obvious.

There is being poor, and then there is being destitute (without the basic necessities of life). Both categories should receive help. Obviously those in more dire need should receive the most and the quickest help, but just because you're not destitute, doesn't mean you're not poor.

Another thing to consider is that those "riding the line", like my family, are stuck doing so. Below the poverty line, we get assistance such as food stamps, medicaid for our children, child care or housing subsidies etc. representing thousands of dollars. One year barely above the line, and we lost all of that. We were not making up the difference in income, not even close. We ended up back under the poverty line again! due to that. We couldn't afford child care on our own, health insurance on our own etc. Illnesses resulted in high medical bills that resulted in being behind on other bills and less money for things like groceries. Child care is INSANELY expensive, and I couldn't make enough money at minimum-ish wage to justify even going to work in the first place, because it barely covered child care for two children, and gasoline to get to work. How is that tolerable??

What do I define as "tolerable living?" Having all the absolute basic necessities, including food, shelter, clothing, and sanitation - and also having those things that you don't absolutely need for survival but that make living tolerable. Such as (in no particular order):

*Access to health care. Insurance is great, but too many don't have the money for the co-pays. You can have your basic essentials and still be impoverished because you cannot pay a $40 co-pay at the doctor's office, or pay 20% of a dentist bill for a crown.
*Education
*Furniture, specifically beds
*Access to a well rounded selection of nutritious foods at your local store, in a quantity enough to keep your family fed.
*Transportation. I don't necessarily mean a car, or even a bike, but at least some mode of transportation, including public, to get where you need to go. The world has grown so much that I think we can no longer get all the things we need within walking distance, unless you live in an urban area I suppose. However, the rates of poverty are similar, but actually higher, in non-metropolitan areas. In the case of there being no public transportation offered, as in my area, things need to be in walking distance or a car is a necessity.
*Some form of communication. At least a telephone, though in today's world, a computer with an internet connection is infinitely more valuable.

My family falls in that grey area, where we have things that people in 3rd world countries can only dream of, and yet we cannot live tolerably on our income here in the U.S.

We have a car, but it's a necessity because there is no public transportation offered in our small town, and all jobs are in a larger town my husband must commute to.

I have a laptop. It is hideously old and barely works, but still. I tried to sell it before we moved, but the most anyone would give me was $40! It was then I decided that any potential income I could make from having a computer was worth more than the $40 someone would give me to tear this down and use it for parts. (My laptop has since died, and I'm borrowing a neighbor's.)

I have an internet connection. Temporarily, because getting the package with a land line was much cheaper for the first 6 months.

We have a few kitchen gadgets, a t.v., a few prized possessions. But even so, we do not make enough money to consistently cover all our basic necessities, and our tolerable necessities. We struggle constantly to strike a balance between the two. We don't always do it right, because really when you're poor, sometimes you just have to decide to go hungry for a week so that you have a bed to rest your head on.

Thankfully, we don't this week. Our bed, while too small for my husband and I to share, was free from the Salvation Army. You may not think a bed is a basic necessity, but it is a tolerable necessity. Because he won't have to sleep on the floor starting tomorrow, he will be more alert for his commute, more productive at work increasing his chances of a raise, be in better health with more rest, and more positive in general because he won't ache and feel defeated. And we won't hurt. Sleeping on the floor hurts.

And even more importantly, we won't have to use our food or utility or rent money in order to have tolerable sleeping conditions, and therefore won't dig our hole ever deeper.

Please, if you're reading this, consider that even though someone has the basic necessities, they are still suffering and struggling and still need help.