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Researchers in economics generally agree that using a single poverty index, be it relative, absolute, objective or subjective, is not enough to capture the complex reality it entails. This study is using detailed panel data from a statistical survey on household resources and living conditions published by the French National Institute for Statistics and Economic Studies (Insee) between 2010 and 2016, in order to show that subjective well-being is closely related to transitions in and out of poverty in terms of living conditions, yet that people’s satisfaction is not affected by transitions into monetary poverty at 60% of the median income. This article shows that falling below 80% of the median income leads to a significant drop in satisfaction for respondents, thus making this threshold a subjective line of poverty. Some sociodemographic events, such as separation or unemployment, seem to increase the risk of falling below this poverty threshold, deemed critical by individuals and which represents about 30% of the French population.