I recently came across a long article discussing a very interesting phenomenon——you see the economic data looking great, with GDP growth and declining unemployment, but people's lives are still tight. Earning $100,000 a year and still feeling poor—what's really going on?

The problem actually lies in the tools we use to measure wealth and poverty. The official poverty line in the US is set at an annual income of $31,200 (for a family of four). As long as you exceed this number, statistically, you're not considered poor. Sounds good, but this measure was created in 1963.

Back then, the logic was simple and crude: a family spends about one-third of their income on food, so they calculated the minimum food cost and multiplied it by three—that's how the poverty line was determined.

But the world has changed over the years. Food prices have steadily decreased, but what about housing, healthcare, and childcare costs? That's a different story. Think about what it takes to live decently in society today—having a place to live, a car, caring for children, access to medical care when sick—these basic needs costs have skyrocketed. Recalculating based on current living standards, the true poverty line isn't just over $30,000 but around $140,000, roughly 1 million RMB. That’s the real threshold for barely living a decent life in modern society.

No wonder so many people feel the data looks good, but life is still tough. The measuring stick is way outdated.