Who Are “The Poor” Anyway?

who qualifies as “poor.” Because our brains often rely on stereotypes to reduce complexity and avoid cognitive overload (known as heuristics), we construct what a poor person is based on physical or environmental circumstances—the disheveled man on the street, or the migrant with children living in a shelter, or the elderly person subsisting on cat food and tap water.

But what about the head of household who makes a six-figure salary and who, through poor choices, finds himself leveraged by debt with no emergency savings and a negative net worth? Are he and his family “poor,” despite their ample means? What about the family with a median household income who, nevertheless, live in an extremely high cost of living area in which they cannot afford adequate housing? The poor are not always the indigent, and sometimes they are hidden in plain sight but in non-stereotypical circumstances. Nevertheless, these can be difficult, subjective situations to discern.

If we were forced to categorize ourselves as middle-class Americans as either “rich” or “poor,” comparative to the world, we would undoubtedly be considered the former. And that means—as rich people, comparatively speaking…

“The poor” are not caricatures; though for those who like to flex virtue it would be more convenient if they were. For the poor can surprise us by their demureness, their hiddenness. They may be our neighbor in Christ, our neighbor of another faith, or our literal neighbor languishing behind closed doors next to us. And since the poor we will have with us always, we will never lack an opportunity to exercise the muscle of charity during Lent and beyond it. The harder work, when we regard ourselves like the rich young ruler, is settling for less, shortchanging ourselves by prioritizing the pleasures of trifles and temporal distractions over the gift of charity, and keeping our hearts from becoming calloused. We would be wise to recall the words of St. Ambrose as a reality check when considering those in need:

You are not making a gift of your possessions to the poor person. You are handing over to him what is his. For what has been given in common for the use of all, you have arrogated to yourself. The world is given to all, and not only to the rich.

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