WWW.CITYGATENETWORK.ORG MAY/JUNE 2019 12 How People in Poverty Live 7 things that are part of normal life for impoverished families 1Search for affordable housing. Poor families either have to make do with substandard or dangerous housing, depend on the hospitality of relatives, or go homeless. (The New York Times) 2Try to make $133 worth of food (the average amount for a food stamp recipient each month, as of 2016) last a whole month. That’s $4.38 per day. (Kaiser Family Foundation) 3Skip a meal. One in six Americans are food insecure. (World Vision, U.S. Department of Agriculture) 4Work longer and harder. Poor people actually work longer and harder than most. (Poverty and Learning) 5Live with chronic pain. Those earning less than $12,000 a year are twice as likely to report feeling physical pain on any given day. (Kaiser Health News) 6Live shorter lives. There is a 10–14­year gap in life expectancy between the rich and the poor. (Health Affairs) 7Accomplish one single goal: stay alive. Many working poor families are preoccupied with day­to­day survival. Life is not something to be enjoyed so much as endured. (Huffington Post)