Reply to Why is it hard for some privileged people to realize that saving is hard?

Forum Index » Money and Finances

Reply to "Why is it hard for some privileged people to realize that saving is hard? "

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]The question was why do people of privilege find it so hard to understand how hard it is to save, and this thread demonstrated this perfectly.

Being working poor is really hard. It is time consuming in a way that many people don't seem to understand. Taking a low-wage hourly job or two puts you at the mercy of someone else making a schedule, with a week's notice. Or maybe you will only get 3 shifts when you were counting on 5 that week. Then you have to find child care for a random schedule, which is why people frequently ask family to help, or you have to pay a sitter, who may make a bit less than you do. Because you are hourly, you don't have health insurance, or a way to budget because random hours.

This leads to the need for social services, whether that be reduced lunches, medical care, or an unemployment check because the factory closed and half the town is out of work too.

It takes time to figure out how to get medical care, and time to figure out how to fill out forms to get social services. It is complicated and confusing.  Being poor has long-term impacts, like not knowing how to apply for college or the aid that they can likely receive because of a low family income, or skipping the health insurance options because that does cost extra, and maybe it's worth taking the risk of not having it.

This was my childhood, followed by me putting myself through college (I arranged my classes at a big ten school around my work schedule for one of my jobs and not the other way around. I ate an apple around 3p, and then ate whatever pizza was messed up at the restaurant that night) Saving just wasn't an option. There was nothing to save.

My husband is furloughed, and I run a consulting firm. We do have savings, and are fine. But I won't be the one scolding Americans who are $600 away from catastrophe at any moment.

[/quote]
[b]
People who find themselves in the situation you described are typically there because of poor life choices.[/b] I used to be involved in a variety of charities that focused on *giving*. We would give money, food, toys, clothing, and etc to poor people in need. After a couple of years of that I decided to go into mentoring instead and it had FAR more impact to the people we helped. I love giving the example of a single mom who had a long string of waitress or retail clerk jobs, earning minimum wage or barely above it, literally struggling to stay afloat. She had the drive and the desire, as well as the work ethic, but just didn't know what to do to pull herself out of a repetitive and depressing situation. Her dad took ill and she went and took care of him in the hospital. She described to us how she's used to taking care of sick relatives so we suggested that she go into a nursing program. She hunkered down, took two semesters of classes at the local community college, tuition was paid for by a combination of Pell grant and other needs-based aid, we helped her with her exam preps, and she got a steady job with benefits as a nurse - a field with a lot of need and the potential for growth with additional education. We told her to stay focused on gaining additional training so that she can grow into higher roles and therefore earn more pay. After a while she never contacted us again, which is a wonderful outcome for us. This is just an example, we saw so many stories just like hers, people stuck in a situation unable to get out, and they grow frustrated, angry, lashing out at people or situations they think is unfair. The opportunities are there, it's up to the individual to act in their own best interest, and not to wait for others to do for them what they must do for themselves.

[/quote]

Ok.  And?  Why do people keep saying the bolded?  Of COURSE someone, somewhere, might have made bad life choices to lead to poverty, whether it be the person themselves, their parents, or their grandparents.  How do we "mentor" people en masse?  That is a really individual and personal solution.  In the meantime, people have expenses and children with needs.  Our society needs to give a s*** about those people instead of jumping up and down on them about their "bad life choices."[/quote]

You are missing the point. We have an incredibly supportive society as is. This is why we are the most prosperous nation in the world, because we do a great job of getting people to be productive. There is simply no evidence that we don't *give* enough. Therefore giving more is not going to improve matters. Let's focus more on mentoring people instead of telling poor people that the reason they are poor is because they have a pack of privilege. 
[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics