Avram > $12,000 per year is below the poverty line for even a single person.
Whose poverty line? You don’t think this is sufficient for a person who wants to learn. And we presume here that the wife volunteers to agree to that lifestyle and even works.
The wife is entitled to the maximal of his and her family lifestyles. So, if he marries someone from the same learning background, then he does not need to spend too much on her and can even learn this way even if the wife is not fully happy (agreement is preferred, of course).