Because that definition is woefully inadequate to describe the conditions of people experiencing poverty.
I’m not sure how broadening it to include like half the country helps them?
Lots of people live paycheck to paycheck because they have to - other people live paycheck to paycheck because they want to drive a BMW and have a house 50% larger they can afford. They’re not the same.
There is a range of working class. Some get paid more for their work. They are still working to survive.
As many of the higher wager earners disagree with how the lesser wage earners spend their meager earnings as the less wager earners disagree with the high wager earners.
This is crab mentality. You need to unlearn yours or accept yourself as part of the problem. Some may have larger claws than others but we are all crabs in the same bucket.
I’m not arguing we aren’t all crabs in a bucket - but telling someone who’s working poor that the guy making 5-10x as much as them and still living paycheck to paycheck just like them doesn’t help anyone?
Nor does it accurately represent how much worse their situation is?
Fast forward a few years and the size of house I will be able to afford is a shoebox.