Define poor.

[black_midori]

Pretty much everyone I've run across who DOES consider themselves poor (and does food stamps / free healthcare / welfare / the whole thing) is NOT what I would consider poor. I actually listened to a conversation among a group of homeschoolers once that went something like this:

 

"I am having trouble with my food stamps"

"Oh?"

"Yeah, it just doesn't adequately cover the food that my family needs"

"really?"

"Yeah, I buy at this organic store out of town and the food stamps just don't go far enough"

"oh, I know! Isn't that terrible? We have that problem, too!"

 

Hmmm... even more frustrating, both of the people drove to the park day from their houses with multiple bedrooms, in their vans big enough for all their kids, after setting up the park day from their computers with internet access, and pulled out their cell phones to get calls.....

 

My family is fairly well off, mainly through hard work and good planning / saving strategies (and some "make your own luck"!). I find it extremely frustrating that a large group of people are forced to pour money into a government system that allows so many people to buy more expensive sneakers / phones / cars / etc than I have. Welfare should be done on a local basis.

[duckens]

Poor is:

--not enough food and not enough appropriately healthy food. (Food stamp alleviate this, but not everyone qualifies for food stamps).

 

--greater than 30% of income spent on housing; especially if housing is the smallest/cheapest domicile one can find.

 

--transportation is a struggle. This could mean inability to afford transportation, or a crisis occurs when your 19yo car breaks down. (Better public transportation would alleviate this).

 

--living paycheck to paycheck

 

--unable to afford to take days off from work, let along a 3 day vacation to another location. If your boss cuts your hours, it's a crisis.

 

--unable to afford basic health care for self and dependents (Medicaid alleviates this, but not everyone qualifies who needs it).

 

--unable to afford safe, quality childcare for your young children (Sliding scale daycares help, but the waiting list is often a year. Universal Pre-K helps).

 

--having to work 2 jobs to pay the bills.

 

--unable to afford even part-time college without financial aid. (Financial Aid helps with this, but too many students are graduating with massive student loans.)

 

 

When more and more families with one or both parents working full time cannot afford these things, it is time for the government to step in. It is time for systemic changes.

[SunD]

Poor in the US? Well, I was shocked the first time I visited my best friend's home. I thought my family was poor because my mom drove an ancient Chevy Nova, and my dad's truck was mismatched pieces and didn't have air conditioning (in south Louisiana ... and he drove 40 miles to get to work, so not a quick commute!), and my parents were always telling me we couldn't afford this or that.

 

Anyway, my friend's home was a tiny trailer, half the size of a normal 16x80 mobile home. They had no cabinets in the kitchen, just home-built shelves. The table and chairs were all mismatched. They had a futon instead of a sofa, and no flooring in the living room, just plywood. Her brother slept on the futon, and kept his clothes in a milk crate next to it, which also served as a coffee table. They couldn't share a bedroom because her room was literally only big enough for a twin mattress and a tiny dresser. Her parents' bed was two stacked futon pads.

 

I was shocked enough by that, but when she ate dinner at my house (I went to her home to pick her up) she commented on how big our portions were. I didn't get what she was saying because they were actually pretty small. She explained that she and her brother only got half-portions at dinner, because they would get free breakfast and lunch at school the next day. It was more fair to give their dad some of their share, because he wouldn't have any lunch the next day unless he could scrape up a tiny bit of leftovers from dinner.

 

Yeah, in some situations they might be considered well-off. They had running water (but had to ration it, and their hot water heater was broken), electricity (also rationed), and a (leaky) roof over their heads. They had (some) food to eat. I'm sure a lot of people in this world would envy them. But the memory is burned into my mind and when I think "poor", that's what I think of. Not "starving" or "destitute", but "poor".