Poverty is a definitional thing, it does not refer to actual living conditions. Poverty in California and poverty in, say, your average red state are very different. Our people in poverty have access to a wide range of public benefits. Our poverty line is quite high which means people qualify for public benefits at higher levels of income. Living in California in poverty is far more tolerable than living elsewhere in poverty. Likewise how being in poverty in the USA is nothing like being in poverty in India or even China.