Reply to Paycheck to Paycheck HBO Documentary

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I think the sadest part is that Katrina didn't realize that she was living in poverty when she was married and before she even had the first child.  The failed belief that they were "getting by" when she was married and the three kids is a popular one among those living in poverty because they simply don't know enough about financial matters to understand that they are in poverty and what and how to get out. [/quote]

I agree.  Having three children is a VERY expensive endeavour.  We only had one because we felt we "couldn't afford it" when we were bringing home $85K during child bearing years (didn't pay for child care & had a $500 a month mortage).

It annoys the piss out of me when someone says, "Raise the minumum wage at McDonalds, a single mother of three can't support her kids."  The chances are that mother was pretty damn poor before she even had the first child.  She should have had enough common sense not to have two more.[/quote]

What a peach you are.[/quote]

Well it's not a generous thought. But it *is* true and something people need to talk about when discussing the causes of poverty. While I sympathize with the people in the video, we shouldn't pretend that they're completely innocent victims. They played an active role in producing their current circumstances and they need to realize that if they hope to move into the middle class.[/quote]

"They need to realize that" sounds an awful lot like some kind of shaming exercise that has little utility. I grew up poor. I'm one of three. My parents were poor when I was born, and when they got divorced when I was 11, we were even poorer overall. There have been multiple threads about what poverty feels like, and I feel like a lot of people who have never been poor are very dismissive of the heartbreaking aspect for both parents and children. As the oldest child, I spent a lot of time trying to alleviate stress on my mom - learning how to cook and doing a lot of cleaning because she was trying so hard to get her degree so that she could be something other than a waitress, not telling her about field trips at school because I didn't want to have to ask for the fee, not telling her when I got my first period and using toilet paper when I couldn't get pads at school for three cycles because I knew we were broke and didn't want to add to her stress. Later, I learned that she agonized over what to cut, which bill to pay first (was it more important to have heat, or running water? Was it more important to eat, or have winter coats?). She worked her ass off in school for 8 years (undergrad, then medical school) and racked up hundreds of thousands of dollars of student loan debt that she knows she'll never be able to pay back. I know how hard it was for her, and I know how hard it was for me, and I would never suggest that someone living in poverty with children "needs to realize" how they contributed to the situation. Trust me. They know. They know every time their child needs a new pair of shoes. They know every time bills come due. They know every time they go to the grocery store and every time they put gas in their car if they have a car. They don't need to be reminded about their "active role in producing their current circumstances" so much as they need less judgmental assistance (by which I mean education, training and support in getting those things, not blank checks to do whatever the hell they want) in getting out of those circumstances.[/quote]
PREACH!
PREACH!
PREACH!
Let those who have ears, listen!!!![/quote]

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