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Comment by advisedwang | Hacker News Reader

> With this news, the UK now has more people living in poverty than India (16% vs 22%?)

The severity of poverty in rich western nations is easy to underestimate. There are people in the UK who are underfed, can't afford heat, have to work multiple jobs etc. This kind of poverty does look different than poverty in India - better in some ways, but worse in others - but it is still poverty.

The data on relative poverty is hard to trust, but we also can't trust gut feelings about which countries "must" have more poverty. Perhaps it is true that UK does have a higher fraction of people in some kind of poverty.

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In what ways does poverty in the UK look worse than poverty in India?

You won't freeze to death without heating

Poverty in the west is often of a different kind than in India. Deep poverty in India can look living in self build house in a slum, with no or low and irregular income most of which goes straight into food and necessities.

Deep poverty in the west often looks like having a stable income and roof, but being completely overwhelmed by high unavoidable static costs such as rent, health insurance, loan paybacks, etc. Of course this style of poverty is also present in India

They're different kinds of experience. I suspect the former is more dangerous, scary and unpleasant, but the latter is more depressing and suffocating.

It's more depressing and suffocating than extremely high rates of malnutrition, less educational and institutional access, a stricter class system , having to cook with fuels like dung, poor sanitation, awful maternal health? Color me skeptical.

Malnutrition is common in the west too, though it more often takes the form of unhealthy overeating. Lack of physical exercise and lives lived inside also contribute to poor every day health. You're right that sanitation and maternal health are better in the west, but those are things that tend to outright kill you if they get to you. The western style health issues are more constant and boring, leading to a different type of suffering.

Likewise with the institutional access and class system, the west has a more sort of guaranteed based level of societal support. But in India, chances are larger that you'll have a more local social support group of family and friends. In comparison the west is often much more isolated and lonely

Obviously I'd still prefer being poor in the west, but I think it's reasonable to say we also have forms of suffering here that are different in kind and sometimes worse than in India

I understand those in poverty in India are typically still part of a religious, family or social community. In the UK those in poverty are often completely isolated.

Sometimes community can provide a safety net, but even a community so poor that it can't help materially is better for, e.g. mental health.

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