Maybe, but the fact that food is cheaper as a % of income today does not mean we have less poverty overall. It just means we have a different kind. First of al

Maybe, but the fact that food is cheaper as a % of income today does not mean we have less poverty overall. It just means we have a different kind. First of all, lodging is still a very important budget item, and not one that is bound to decrease for high employment areas, as city regulations make it hard to increase housing supply at the necessary rate. Second, new needs have appeared that have replaced food among the necessary spending. Mobile phone plans and Internet are one of them. We are the ones who work a lot and make a good living with that. The problem is at the other end of the spectrum with people that are barely making ends meetm and need to work as much as possible to earn enough to feed their family and survive.