$40,000 A Year Poverty Trap

[jeffrey]

Until you earn about $40,000 a year, you’re pretty much stuck in poverty, an economists’ numbers show.

In fact, until you get past $40,000 a year, any raise or higher paying job you get might actually sink you deeper into poverty...

Megan Cottrell - One Story Up – Don’t fall in the poverty trap – you might never get out… - True/Slant

[Inkstain82]

The article is correct that strict cutoffs for government aid create weird disincentives.

It's wrong that you can't get out of poverty on $40,000 a year. The woman in the link needed to leave Chicago, for example. She clearly couldn't afford to live in an urban area.