I live in a relatively poor village in Laos and have visited many villages way poorer than the one I live in and I think a big part of the reason people can stay happy and have hope on a budget of a few dollar a day is the strong sense of family and community in these villages. The poor in the western world seem much more isolated in comparison.
I grew up in Seattle, went to school in Philly, and just spent a year traveling through 14 countries in Asia (incl 6mo in India). The poverty on the streets of my hometown when I returned was absolutely shocking. And I found the poverty in Philadelphia to seem so much more crushing than what I saw in far poorer areas, like Indian slums or Laotian villages (I'm really struggling to deconstruct exactly why I had this feeling).