poor. The supplemental poverty measure also includes clothing, shelter, and utilities. Critics have suggested that these numbers are too low. In addition, hunger has become a less useful measure of poverty. Moreover, as a country grows richer, hunger becomes less common, so using it as measure of poverty becomes less useful. Thus, relative poverty is defined this way: If you earn less than half of the median income, you’re poor. But some believe that we need a third defini- tion—material security—that considers both material well-being, as well as accounting for economic growth. Among those advocating for this definition is Bloomberg columnist Noah Smith, who says that someone who has food WWW.CITYGATENETWORK.ORG MAY/JUNE 2019 9 and a roof over their head today, but doesn’t know whether they will tomorrow, should be considered poor as well. Smith adds that a reasonable definition of poverty should include a measure of how secure people feel in their homes, their health, and their jobs. That fits with the belief of psychologist Abra- ham Maslow, who stated that safety only ranked below food and shelter as a basic human need. Safety insecurity causes extreme stress. This type of security crosses multiple areas—such as housing, health care, income, the risk of violence, and so on—which makes it hard to capture in a single measure. Still, there are some existing measures that could be used to help create a composite picture of security-based poverty.  Eight in 10 Americans have debt. Similar to poverty, debt affects our mental and physical wellbeing. It causes a significant increase in our stress and makes us doubt our self­worth. Along with influencing how much money we have to work with each month, debt affects our quality and length of life. People with severe debt are much more likely to develop a mental disorder, depression, alcoholism, drug dependence, neurotic disorders, and attempt suicide. But debt doesn’t necessarily cause mental health issues. Thomas Richardson, in the Clinical Psychology Review, says the relationship between debt and mental health disorders works both ways. He says that while the stress of debt and poverty may cause or exacerbate mental health issues, pre­existing mental illness may also exacerbate debt, contributing to erratic employment habits and compulsive spending. Financial stress is rarely contained just to parents within a family; kids often experience and even internalize the stress of not having enough to make ends meet. Debt is more than a lack of money. The stress of falling behind on bills or having to choose between car payments and groceries can drag a person down into the almost inevitable cycle of poverty. The Pit of Debt Striking similarities between debt and poverty