[kbutler]

And cable TV and air conditioning?

"For example, in 2005, 63.7% of those living in poverty had cable or satellite television. In some cases the report even said that people currently living in poverty were actually better off than middle class people of the recent past. For example, in 2005, 78.3% of households living in poverty had air conditioning, whereas in 1970, 36.0% of all households had air conditioning." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poverty_in_the_United_States#O...

So in 35 years, 78% of the poor had something that only 36% of households had previously.

Lacking access to necessary food/shelter/health care is "absolute poverty" (not the usually reported "relative poverty" rate https://www.debt.org/faqs/americans-in-debt/poverty-united-s...). And by that measure, including existing government and other benefits and transfer payments, the US poverty rate is near zero. https://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2015/09/17/americas...

I'm not saying we can't do better, but we should also realize how far we've come.

[P_I_Staker]

I don't know, some of these things can be attributed to the falling cost of technology and culture. Air conditioners are seen as necessary, instead of a luxury. It may never have even occurred to some people that they should prioritize affording money for one. Poor people could probably afford smartphones too when they first came out, but they only became common when everyone had one, and costs came down. Personally, I don't think quality of life is measured by air conditioning and cable TV either.

[kbutler]

Yes - real cost (cost in hours worked) of necessities, and even former luxuries, has declined dramatically, and standard of living for the poor has increased dramatically. That's the point.

If you go to Mexico, you'll see people living in much hotter conditions without air conditioning (but they still have satellite TV).

Cable TV and air conditioning show the shifting standard of living that represents "poor" in the united states, and illustrate that a large percentage of "poor" definitely have the necessities (shelter in particular), as opposed to the "absolute poverty" who lack basic necessities of food/shelter/access to health care.

Quality of life is a different question, and very difficult to measure.