General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsIt Is Expensive to Be Poor
Fifty years ago, President Lyndon B. Johnson made a move that was unprecedented at the time and remains unmatched by succeeding administrations. He announced a War on Poverty, saying that its chief weapons would be better schools, and better health, and better homes, and better training, and better job opportunities.
...
What I discovered is that in many ways, these jobs are a trap: They pay so little that you cannot accumulate even a couple of hundred dollars to help you make the transition to a better-paying job. They often give you no control over your work schedule, making it impossible to arrange for child care or take a second job. And in many of these jobs, even young women soon begin to experience the physical deteriorationespecially knee and back problemsthat can bring a painful end to their work life.
I was also dismayed to find that in some ways, it is actually more expensive to be poor than not poor. If you cant afford the first months rent and security deposit you need in order to rent an apartment, you may get stuck in an overpriced residential motel. If you dont have a kitchen or even a refrigerator and microwave, you will find yourself falling back on convenience store food, whichin addition to its nutritional deficitsis also alarmingly overpriced. If you need a loan, as most poor people eventually do, you will end up paying an interest rate many times more than what a more affluent borrower would be charged. To be poorespecially with children to support and care foris a perpetual high-wire act.
The criminalization of poverty has accelerated since the recession.
Most private-sector employers offer no sick days, and many will fire a person who misses a day of work, even to stay home with a sick child. A nonfunctioning car can also mean lost pay and sudden expenses. A broken headlight invites a ticket, plus a fine greater than the cost of a new headlight, and possible court costs. If a creditor decides to get nasty, a court summons may be issued, often leading to an arrest warrant. No amount of training in financial literacy can prepare someone for such exigenciesor make up for an income that is impossibly low to start with. Instead of treating low-wage mothers as the struggling heroines they are, our political culture still tends to view them as miscreants and contributors to the cycle of poverty.
http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/01/it-is-expensive-to-be-poor/282979/
kelly1mm
(4,733 posts)people live, not those at the lake - basically all the service workers for the lake. Most heat with wood with kerosene as a back up (to cold for outdoor fuel oil storage). My neighbors drive back and forth with kero cans to the gas station and pay 4.25 per gallon for kero that they then manually dump into their tanks. I get the kero delivered by the kero company for 3.90 per gallon. Why, because I can get (and pay for) 200 gallons at a time. So, just for the kero (not including gas to get the kero), I pay $780 for 200 gallons while my neighbor pays $850.
A small example, but one that poped to my head as it really bothers me,.
upaloopa
(11,417 posts)I was homeless for a time and it is very hard to get back to becoming a self supporting person.
It helps if you have friends that are willing to help you out.
liberal N proud
(60,334 posts)and it will hurt worse!
Cleita
(75,480 posts)for necessities than the rich and sometimes more because they can't afford to take advantage of deals that the rich can.
gopiscrap
(23,757 posts)higher food prices and poorer selections at grocery stores, bank fees the rich don't have to pay etc etc
redqueen
(115,103 posts)Poor people know this all to well.
It's intentional. A feature of capitalism, not a bug.
canoeist52
(2,282 posts)Scammers are everywhere - including "legit" companies.
PumpkinAle
(1,210 posts)my boss never pays them and is very selective over which bills he will pay.
He never gets taken to task - me I go 35 days late paying a bill and all hell lets loose.
Contractors and suppliers bend over backwards and cut him really great deals because he is in the 1% - me, I am lucky if they take the time of day.
Yes, it is very expensive to be poor - been there, done that.
eridani
(51,907 posts)Washer and dryer in the basement--no waiting around wasting time at laundromats. Plenty of space to store 6 months worth of toilet paper from Costco--far cheaper unit price that buying one roll at a time from 7-11. I can buy food on sale and freeze it in lots for later use. If you are poor, you just can't afford these money-saving habits.
RadiationTherapy
(5,818 posts)for failure of any kind.