I think part of the reason for that contrast is that at least from my POV (being raised in poverty early on and only getting out of that that situation when my

I think part of the reason for that contrast is that at least from my POV (being raised in poverty early on and only getting out of that that situation when my parents found work at Raytheon Beechcraft) is that poor people in the US will try to buy a the appearance of not being poor but never really save anything for things that really matter like healthcare and education. It's not that poor people can't save for it, but that it seems that US society puts an emphasis appearances rather than on the actual condition of one's economic standing. So, I've seen friends of mine (similarly poor or lower-middle-class) own nice clothes but have zip in terms of savings or things that could make their lives easier (ex. a well maintained car). I want to emphasize that this isn't an attempt to convict people in those economic situations as bad, but that as a society we're really superficial in terms of taking care of poverty itself. Having a house, a car, and etc doesn't mean you can't be poor or have no economic safety net to even maintain that standard of living which my parents still don't (even at 57 years of age). What makes this worse is the fact that some people snub anyone that is perceptibly "poor". It's something that irks me because I've known very bright and capable people of the same economic standing as I started with getting rejected from job opportunities and even social occasions purely based on their economic standing. Then people wonder why poor people stay poor.