Poverty: a reversal

A couple of years ago I wrote: 

benefit rates for children have seen big increases over the last few years to the point that people already receiving benefits saw increases in their income and more people became entitled to the benefits than previously and their incomes rose too.

So now we have reports that more children of more households than ever before "have to rely" on these benefits but the real effect of this is that the poorest parents of children actually have more money for their kids. That's good isn't it?

The gap between rich and poor may widen but that doesn't mean the poor are poorer. 

Now I see a reversal of this with the announcement that 300,000 kids have been taken out of poverty. Not, of course, by making them and their families better off, oh no.

The economy has got so bad that people are losing money by reduced hours at work. Maybe losing a job and just having the single income coming in resulting in lower incomes for many people and, thus, reducing median income. So now the income of those previously in poverty is not as small as it was in relation to median income and, therefore, they are no longer officially defined as poor.

It's a strange world where extra money puts you in poverty while reducing other people's money takes you out of it.