Desmond defines “deep poverty” as an income level that makes it difficult for someone to secure access to basic necessities such as food, clothing, shelter, and healthcare. In the United States, over five million people live in deep poverty, in conditions analogous to those in some of the poorest countries around the world.

The term “welfare” applies to programs such as food stamps or unemployment checks, benefits the government provides to those in need. Such programs are frequent targets of political controversy and often attract stigma for those who need them, with program recipients often depicted as lazy, greedy, and a burden on hardworking taxpayers. Desmond introduces the term “invisible welfare” to both combat the stigma associated with the term “welfare” and point out the hypocrisy surrounding it: It is actually “invisible welfare” programs for the wealthy, such as subsidies for mortgages and tax cuts, that cost the government the most money. Such programs allow wealthy people to become even richer while preserving the illusion that the poor are the real drain on the system.