There's a weird disconnect between poverty in terms of income and poverty in terms of access to basic needs. For instance, American Men are much more likely to be homeless than American Women[0]. There's all sorts of interesting gender/race/age disparities related to homelessness[1]. The effect of income appears to be outweighed by the effects of gender, race and age.

I should have been clearer than simply stating _desperately_ poor; I intended to convey that they are in a state of poverty where there are few other options available.

0: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homelessness_in_the_United_Sta...

1: https://www.forbes.com/sites/eriksherman/2018/12/29/homeless...