be/live on the breadline

be/live on the breadline (British & Australian)
to be very poor
Usage notes: In America, breadlines were very poor people standing in a line waiting for free food provided by the government.Most families of the unemployed are on the breadline. How many elderly people in Britain are living on the breadline?
IdiI()
Cambridge Idioms Dictionary, 2nd ed. Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2006. Reproduced with permission.