

What you are referring to is absolute poverty. However, even if you can cover the very basics, such as rent, food and healthcare, if you have a lot less than most people that is known as relative poverty. Both are important to combat. I am assuming the definition is made as it is because it is quite simple to compute. Finding a good measure for cost of living is a lot more complex and easy to get stuck arguing what is an acceptable standard of living.









If you read the Wikipedia article on the matter though, the long form given here does not seem to be “the original” by any means.
The “short” proverb is many hundred years old. The “long form” first appeared in the 1990s by a specific author.
It’s more an interpretation to negate an old proverb that the author disagreed with than anything.