You must avoid what it is like to be poor ?

The sentence is a little unclear, but it seems to say this: You should avoid poor people and poor areas.

Maybe this:

You must avoid experiencing what it is like to be poor. (Live like a king, not a pauper.)

AnonymousYou must avoid what it is like to be poor.

This doesn't compute.
The concept itself seems flawed (or impossible) to me.

Can you try to explain what your thoughts are about this?

I can understand this:

You must know what it is like to be poor.
= You must know that being poor is like what.

but I can't understand what this mean:

You must avoid what it is like to be poor.
= You must avoid that being poor is like what (?)

And I think that is an incorrect sentence.

AnonymousAnd I think that is an incorrect sentence.

I agree with you completely, Anon. And I note that you are the original poster.
I thought at first that you were also the author of the sentence and wanted it corrected.

AnonymousYou must avoid what it is like to be poor.

We should be clear, though, that the grammar structure is proper; it is not 'incorrect'. It is just that the meaning is lost: as Avangi says, the concept is flawed.