For me, having one's needs met kind of equates to not being poor. (I am aware that the official definition of being poor is just some percentage of the average income - that is not a very interesting category imo).
It seems rather to me looking at marginal improvements or as you call it would pose a better explanation. If you know that if you work really hard, you can afford a house and a nice car, it might motivate you to work hard. If all that working harder gives you is money for an extra bottle of beer, the motivation is not quite that great.
The jobs mentioned in the article are not really set up to changing anything fundamental about the guys situation. You can't get rich by donating blood.
Also there seem to be other problems he had, like depression, that prevented him from seeking a better paying job (also his age, of course).
How old are you? After a certain age you begin to notice that working actually tends to take a toll. So you think twice about trading your health for money.
If by "poor", you mean people who's needs aren't met, we just don't have very many of them in the US. The author of this article certainly was not poor by that definition.
As for aging, that was an issue in the past, particularly when most work was manual labor. Luckily, the present and future are much better - projections suggest most old people will be capable of working well past 65. Here is the hot paper:
It seems rather to me looking at marginal improvements or as you call it would pose a better explanation. If you know that if you work really hard, you can afford a house and a nice car, it might motivate you to work hard. If all that working harder gives you is money for an extra bottle of beer, the motivation is not quite that great.
The jobs mentioned in the article are not really set up to changing anything fundamental about the guys situation. You can't get rich by donating blood.
Also there seem to be other problems he had, like depression, that prevented him from seeking a better paying job (also his age, of course).
How old are you? After a certain age you begin to notice that working actually tends to take a toll. So you think twice about trading your health for money.