Poor Person Explains What Invisible Poverty Looks Like To His Rich Friend
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The ‘American Dream’ rides largely on the idea that you can pull yourself up by your bootstraps and find success, but the reality that many Americans find themselves in proving that it’s not that easy. In a long heartfelt Tumblr post user rrojasandribbons described a conversation they had had with one of their more privileged friends on why it was so difficult to escape poverty.
The friend could not believe that the poster had experienced such hardship like living on food stamps before, as they didn’t fit the image of what poverty line people look like or understood why they couldn’t have just “save money” to get out of it. Scroll down below to read this thorough and thoughtful explanation of the reality of escaping the poverty cycle.
Poverty is defined as when people “lack the means to satisfy their basic needs.” These needs can be explained from a more narrow perspective of what is necessary for survival or in a broader sense, the ability to maintain the standard of living for one’s community. A cycle of poverty is when poor families remain so for three or more generations.
When people imagine low-income people much of the time, they have a caricature of a dirty face with ripped clothing, living in the city, but if you look at the data, this image falls completely out of line with the full picture. In 1960 Lyndon Johnson declared war on poverty that focused resources on inner-city and rural areas, but in 2000 there was a geographical shift of poverty – to the suburbs.
According to a May report from the Pew Research Center, in the U.S suburban counties have experienced sharper increases in poverty than urban or rural counties since 2000. This change makes suburbanization of poverty one of the most important demographic trends within the last 50 years. Unfortunately, suburbs lack the same resources to respond to the growing poverty that the cities do.
Necessary life expenses can be debilitating when you are living in the poverty cycle – especially health issue ones. To put it in perspective the cost for insulin, the shot for people with diabetes, doubled from 2012 to 2016 from $2,864 annually to $5,705. Meanwhile, the Canadian Diabetes Association (CDA) found that, on average, Canadians spend more than $1,500 Cdn per year on diabetes medications, devices, and supplies.
Other people online have echoed this message before
Image credits: TayZonday
And shared their experiences
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"The Sam Vimes "Boots" Theory of Economic Injustice runs thus: At the time of Men at Arms, Samuel Vimes earned thirty-eight dollars a month as a Captain of the Watch, plus allowances. A really good pair of leather boots, the sort that would last years and years, cost fifty dollars. This was beyond his pocket and the most he could hope for was an affordable pair of boots costing ten dollars, which might with luck last a year or so before he would need to resort to makeshift cardboard insoles so as to prolong the moment of shelling out another ten dollars. Therefore over a period of ten years, he might have paid out a hundred dollars on boots, twice as much as the man who could afford fifty dollars up front ten years before. And he would still have wet feet. Without any special rancour, Vimes stretched this theory to explain why Sybil Ramkin lived twice as comfortably as he did by spending about half as much every month." -- Terry Pratchett
This paragraph right here turned Pratchett into one of my favourite authors. I've tried to explain this concept to my dad for years, but now that my parents are a little better off he still keeps buying cheap stuff that he needs to replace often, instead of something that would last.
Though more expensive is not always better quality. So then you would have to figure out the cost /quality ratio per brand. And you can still get unlucky and get an issue with it sooner then anticipated..
My kids called me on that about 10 years ago. “Mom buy better quality, it will look better and last longer....you’re not poor anymore. My mother told me that When I was about 4 she made us porridge (oatmeal) for breakfast and lunch and at supper time she asked us what we wanted and we all said porridge and laughed and laughed. She said that she went into the kitchen and cried as that was the only thing there was to make. I can’t imagine the stress she lived with.
I just started reading the Discworld novels and I wish I would have started sooner!
I weight the pros and cons and the price vs. longevity of an item. I know most people don't do that. My hubby asked why a keep buying cheap cookie sheets for baking. The expensive ones look nicer, but they get scratched easily and I have to replace them multiple times a year. The cheap ones last about as long, for a fraction of the cost. However, I stopped buying cheap shoes. I keep a cheap pair of sneakers for working in the garden, but I buy Merrill's for every day use. They cost over $100, but they last for years and they don't make my feet hurt when I'm standing all day.
You need to be able to make an accurate analysis of the cost/lifespan of the stuff because in rare cases it is better to buy the cheap stuff. But people favor it blindly most of the time, even if it's not good.
My husband (huge Pratchett fan) has actually used this exact example to explain how difficult it is for the working poor to republicans and children.
This is how the housing market works in Sweden. If you have a middle class income or better you can take big loans with low interest to buy property. If you have a working class income you wont be able to take a loan and you end up spending twice as much every month on a rented apartment. All while the value of property is going up because of the lack of apartments and houses. The rich get richer and the poor gets poorer.
Not to mention that the wealthy also inherit property. I know parents (not even that rich, just middle-class) who let their 20yo son live alone in a 100sq.m. flat that they inherited in an expensive European city.
It's not only Sweden, most of Europe is that way. We bought a small apartment two years ago that we could not afford now, since the prices keep going up. We were lucky my dad offered to take out the loan on his name, cause he got a better offer. I have friends who have been looking to buy for years and everything is too expensive. And if there is anything cheaper, it's in abysmal condition.
My friend Steve also often uses this quote to explain income inequality to people who say "Why don't you just..."
Yeah, that's what my SO keeps telling me : "We're not rich enough to buy cheap stuff", and I totally understand the concept and agree with it, but how do you buy the good stuff that lasts longer but is more expensive at first if you don't have the money for it in the first place ?
You do without, only buy what you absolutely need, and keep on slugging. I spend a semester in university living in my car. Even when I got student housing, I had no money. My student loans barely covered books and rent and it made me furious when I’d see overprivileged people getting loans, blowing that money on ski trips and then whining at the “small” amounts their parents gave them.
Sometimes you have to get stuff second hand. Sometimes you have to slowly upgrade over a period of time. My oven broke (can't be fixed - too old), but I couldn't just spend $500 on a new one (I could get one for $300, but they don't last). What could I do? I need an oven to cook! I did some research and bought a kind of pricey toaster/convection oven for $100. The plan was to use that till the end of the year, while I saved up to buy an actual oven. I got lucky, though. That toaster oven turned out to be more useful than my old oven. I never replaced it.
I was just about to post the same thing.
Are you a member of We Aten't Dead on FB? If not, you should be.
It’s not about saving five dollars here and there. A truly, actually poor person is guaranteed to be behind on more than one bill, always, at all months. Any spare five dollars is just part of catching up on whatever is the furthest past due.
True. Having a few hundred dollars in savings is not a reality for most low income people. You are forever behind on bills, and if an emergency occurs, you end up pawning something, or taking out a payday loan. And that's a trap that keeps you further and further behind.
Payday loans are awful. I was that poor pretty much until the last few years. I feel like I have PTSD from being so poor for so long. My boyfriend always asks why I worry so much about money when we have it. I can’t shake the fear of being like that again. The stress is insane when you’re that poor.
Mewton: I relate this so much. Having grown up relatively poor, I can't stop worrying about money, even though we both have good, stable jobs and a home (we're currently paying off).
I wish Payday loans were illegal. It's usury. How they get around the laws, is a mystery.
Quicky loans and title loans are evil! I've gotten them before when I was in a bind. They try to talk you into the highest loan, so they can charge you more interest. Then, every time you go to make a payment, they try to talk you into renewing it, which resets your payments. It's a trap!
This comment has been deleted.
Yep. I also lose about $100/month in bank fees. Because some automatic payment comes up and I do not have enough $$ in my account...
Awful. Is there like a people's credit or something where you are?
When I first got out on my own (before smart phones), I went around on payday and paid multiple bills and made purchases at multiple stores with my debit card. I didn't know that my paycheck had not cleared yet. I got charged a $32 overdraft fee for evey payment I made that day. It added up to hundreds of dollars. When my check cleared, there was no money left and I was overdrawn. I couldn't afford that! Why on earth did they let all those debits clear? I would rather my card was declined! I went to the bank and talked to the manager and asked if I could have the charges deferred and pay it with my next check. He said he could reverse some of the charges. That helped, but it shouldn't have happened in the first place. I started transferring my money to a green dot card. It costs $4.95 a month, but you can't overdraft it.
What the OP said. And anyone who says, "Just go to college" or "just do (fill in blank)" is so blessed that they have *no* idea how blessed/lucky they are... and still probably only one bad day away from the situation they disparage.
And those same people will have no sympathy when you have thousands of dollars in college loans to pay back.
I recently read , that people are better off getting a trade, rather than the huge debt from a higher education, for some that may be a good option !!!
I went to college, I have a degree and I do for living what I went to school for. I am poor and I live paycheck from paycheck. I am an artist, with BFA in arts, and still I make more than my mom does, with her masters' in teaching, working at a high school. Alas, college education does not automatically provide you with a six-figure salary...
college is no guarantee of a good job.
Going to college doesn't always get you out of poverty. The only thing it guarantees you is college debt. Sometimes a trade is the answer. Many tradespeople make more money than college graduates.
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Wrong, so wrong. I was in the OP's shoes once, I took out mega loans and went to college and sacrified so much, and you know what? It paid off. I worked hard and struggled and went hungry, but I did it because I chose to raise myself from poverty. Life is hard, it isn't fair, and if you want to get somewhere good, you bust your ass.
You cannot assume that everyone has the ability to borrow money (the very point people have made here is that poor people generally don't get loans at favourable rates - IF at all) that they don't have prior obligations eg sick family member or don't have health issues themselves - there are so many things that can stop these things happening. I do wish people would stop assuming that if they managed something it means that everyone can - it's bollocks.
"The Sam Vimes "Boots" Theory of Economic Injustice runs thus: At the time of Men at Arms, Samuel Vimes earned thirty-eight dollars a month as a Captain of the Watch, plus allowances. A really good pair of leather boots, the sort that would last years and years, cost fifty dollars. This was beyond his pocket and the most he could hope for was an affordable pair of boots costing ten dollars, which might with luck last a year or so before he would need to resort to makeshift cardboard insoles so as to prolong the moment of shelling out another ten dollars. Therefore over a period of ten years, he might have paid out a hundred dollars on boots, twice as much as the man who could afford fifty dollars up front ten years before. And he would still have wet feet. Without any special rancour, Vimes stretched this theory to explain why Sybil Ramkin lived twice as comfortably as he did by spending about half as much every month." -- Terry Pratchett
This paragraph right here turned Pratchett into one of my favourite authors. I've tried to explain this concept to my dad for years, but now that my parents are a little better off he still keeps buying cheap stuff that he needs to replace often, instead of something that would last.
Though more expensive is not always better quality. So then you would have to figure out the cost /quality ratio per brand. And you can still get unlucky and get an issue with it sooner then anticipated..
My kids called me on that about 10 years ago. “Mom buy better quality, it will look better and last longer....you’re not poor anymore. My mother told me that When I was about 4 she made us porridge (oatmeal) for breakfast and lunch and at supper time she asked us what we wanted and we all said porridge and laughed and laughed. She said that she went into the kitchen and cried as that was the only thing there was to make. I can’t imagine the stress she lived with.
I just started reading the Discworld novels and I wish I would have started sooner!
I weight the pros and cons and the price vs. longevity of an item. I know most people don't do that. My hubby asked why a keep buying cheap cookie sheets for baking. The expensive ones look nicer, but they get scratched easily and I have to replace them multiple times a year. The cheap ones last about as long, for a fraction of the cost. However, I stopped buying cheap shoes. I keep a cheap pair of sneakers for working in the garden, but I buy Merrill's for every day use. They cost over $100, but they last for years and they don't make my feet hurt when I'm standing all day.
You need to be able to make an accurate analysis of the cost/lifespan of the stuff because in rare cases it is better to buy the cheap stuff. But people favor it blindly most of the time, even if it's not good.
My husband (huge Pratchett fan) has actually used this exact example to explain how difficult it is for the working poor to republicans and children.
This is how the housing market works in Sweden. If you have a middle class income or better you can take big loans with low interest to buy property. If you have a working class income you wont be able to take a loan and you end up spending twice as much every month on a rented apartment. All while the value of property is going up because of the lack of apartments and houses. The rich get richer and the poor gets poorer.
Not to mention that the wealthy also inherit property. I know parents (not even that rich, just middle-class) who let their 20yo son live alone in a 100sq.m. flat that they inherited in an expensive European city.
It's not only Sweden, most of Europe is that way. We bought a small apartment two years ago that we could not afford now, since the prices keep going up. We were lucky my dad offered to take out the loan on his name, cause he got a better offer. I have friends who have been looking to buy for years and everything is too expensive. And if there is anything cheaper, it's in abysmal condition.
My friend Steve also often uses this quote to explain income inequality to people who say "Why don't you just..."
Yeah, that's what my SO keeps telling me : "We're not rich enough to buy cheap stuff", and I totally understand the concept and agree with it, but how do you buy the good stuff that lasts longer but is more expensive at first if you don't have the money for it in the first place ?
You do without, only buy what you absolutely need, and keep on slugging. I spend a semester in university living in my car. Even when I got student housing, I had no money. My student loans barely covered books and rent and it made me furious when I’d see overprivileged people getting loans, blowing that money on ski trips and then whining at the “small” amounts their parents gave them.
Sometimes you have to get stuff second hand. Sometimes you have to slowly upgrade over a period of time. My oven broke (can't be fixed - too old), but I couldn't just spend $500 on a new one (I could get one for $300, but they don't last). What could I do? I need an oven to cook! I did some research and bought a kind of pricey toaster/convection oven for $100. The plan was to use that till the end of the year, while I saved up to buy an actual oven. I got lucky, though. That toaster oven turned out to be more useful than my old oven. I never replaced it.
I was just about to post the same thing.
Are you a member of We Aten't Dead on FB? If not, you should be.
It’s not about saving five dollars here and there. A truly, actually poor person is guaranteed to be behind on more than one bill, always, at all months. Any spare five dollars is just part of catching up on whatever is the furthest past due.
True. Having a few hundred dollars in savings is not a reality for most low income people. You are forever behind on bills, and if an emergency occurs, you end up pawning something, or taking out a payday loan. And that's a trap that keeps you further and further behind.
Payday loans are awful. I was that poor pretty much until the last few years. I feel like I have PTSD from being so poor for so long. My boyfriend always asks why I worry so much about money when we have it. I can’t shake the fear of being like that again. The stress is insane when you’re that poor.
Mewton: I relate this so much. Having grown up relatively poor, I can't stop worrying about money, even though we both have good, stable jobs and a home (we're currently paying off).
I wish Payday loans were illegal. It's usury. How they get around the laws, is a mystery.
Quicky loans and title loans are evil! I've gotten them before when I was in a bind. They try to talk you into the highest loan, so they can charge you more interest. Then, every time you go to make a payment, they try to talk you into renewing it, which resets your payments. It's a trap!
This comment has been deleted.
Yep. I also lose about $100/month in bank fees. Because some automatic payment comes up and I do not have enough $$ in my account...
Awful. Is there like a people's credit or something where you are?
When I first got out on my own (before smart phones), I went around on payday and paid multiple bills and made purchases at multiple stores with my debit card. I didn't know that my paycheck had not cleared yet. I got charged a $32 overdraft fee for evey payment I made that day. It added up to hundreds of dollars. When my check cleared, there was no money left and I was overdrawn. I couldn't afford that! Why on earth did they let all those debits clear? I would rather my card was declined! I went to the bank and talked to the manager and asked if I could have the charges deferred and pay it with my next check. He said he could reverse some of the charges. That helped, but it shouldn't have happened in the first place. I started transferring my money to a green dot card. It costs $4.95 a month, but you can't overdraft it.
What the OP said. And anyone who says, "Just go to college" or "just do (fill in blank)" is so blessed that they have *no* idea how blessed/lucky they are... and still probably only one bad day away from the situation they disparage.
And those same people will have no sympathy when you have thousands of dollars in college loans to pay back.
I recently read , that people are better off getting a trade, rather than the huge debt from a higher education, for some that may be a good option !!!
I went to college, I have a degree and I do for living what I went to school for. I am poor and I live paycheck from paycheck. I am an artist, with BFA in arts, and still I make more than my mom does, with her masters' in teaching, working at a high school. Alas, college education does not automatically provide you with a six-figure salary...
college is no guarantee of a good job.
Going to college doesn't always get you out of poverty. The only thing it guarantees you is college debt. Sometimes a trade is the answer. Many tradespeople make more money than college graduates.
This comment has been deleted.
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
Wrong, so wrong. I was in the OP's shoes once, I took out mega loans and went to college and sacrified so much, and you know what? It paid off. I worked hard and struggled and went hungry, but I did it because I chose to raise myself from poverty. Life is hard, it isn't fair, and if you want to get somewhere good, you bust your ass.
You cannot assume that everyone has the ability to borrow money (the very point people have made here is that poor people generally don't get loans at favourable rates - IF at all) that they don't have prior obligations eg sick family member or don't have health issues themselves - there are so many things that can stop these things happening. I do wish people would stop assuming that if they managed something it means that everyone can - it's bollocks.