Why poor people make bad decisions

[Clueless Git]

I felt weird being home when all the other adult males on the block where at work.

Should I pretend that I have absolutely no idea what you mean?

 

[beancounter]

Should I pretend that I have absolutely no idea what you mean?

It should read "were at work". Does that make more sense?

 

[das_nut]

It wasn't Paul, but one of his fellow Libertarians. When I was on unemployment, I didn't purchase any "nice things". Every penny went for necessities.

In the US, in my state, unemployment is a fraction of your working income - for me, it comes out about half, after tax.

Since I live on far less than what I make, unemployment is remarkably comfortable.

As for nice things - yes, I have nice things. And I'm not going to get rid of all my nice things if I have hard times. Not if I can help it.

Some nice things will go there and there when I no longer use them. But I'll keep the other nice things when I use them.

 

[Spang]

A list of "20 things the poor really do every day", according to Ben Irwin, based on actual statistics:

16. Use drugs and alcohol pretty much the same as (or less than) everyone else.
Despite the common picture of inner city crack houses, drug use is pretty evenly spread across income groups. And rich people actually abuse alcohol more than the poor.
(Source: Poverty and Learning, April 2008)

[...]

18. Get themselves off welfare as soon as possible.
Despite the odds, the vast majority of beneficiaries leave the welfare rolls within five years. Even in the absence of official welfare-to-work programming, most welfare recipients enroll in some form of vocational training. Why? Because they’re desperate to get off welfare.
(Source: US Department of Health and Human Services)

19. Have about the same number of children as everyone else.
No, poor people do not have loads of children just so they can stay on welfare.
(Source: US Department of Health and Human Services)

 

[das_nut]

A list of "20 things the poor really do every day", according to Ben Irwin, based on actual statistics:

Interesting link.

There's also

5. Work longer and harder than most of us.
While it’s popular to think people are poor because they’re lazy (which seems to be the whole point of Ramsey’s post), the poor actually work longer and harder than the rest of us. More than 80 percent of impoverished children have at least one parent who works; 60 percent have at least one parent who works full-time. Overall, the poor work longer hours than the so-called “job creators.”
(Source: Poverty and Learning, April 2008)

9. Pay more than their fair share of taxes.
Some conservative pundits and politicians like to think the poor don’t pay their fair share, that they are merely “takers.” While it’s true the poor don’t pay as much in federal income tax — usually because they don’t earn enough to qualify — they do pay sales tax, payroll tax, etc. In fact, the bottom 20% of earners pay TWICE as much in taxes (as a share of their income) as do the top 1%.
(Source: Institute on Taxation & Economic Policy, January 2013)

14. Live with chronic pain.
Those earning less than $12,000 a year are twice as likely to report feeling physical pain on any given day.

15. Live shorter lives.
There is a 10-14 year gap in life expectancy between the rich and the poor. In recent years, poor people’s life expectancy has actually declined — in America, the wealthiest nation on the planet.

 

[kazyeeqen]

Dave Ramsey is a tool.

****. I just said what was on my mind. I'll never be rich.

 

[das_nut]

Dave Ramsey is a tool.

****. I just said what was on my mind. I'll never be rich.

Ramsey has some good points, but like a lot of those financial self-help gurus, it helps to take a skeptical ear to his words.