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The poverty rate in the U.S is about 17%. By your logic, those 17% are not getting ahead because they do not have innate abilities, they dont work hard, have th

• yummyfajitas 16y ago
  By your logic, those 17% are not getting ahead because they do not have innate abilities, they dont work hard, have the wrong attitude or dont have moral character and integrity. The explanation that the poor "don't work hard" seems spot on. About 80% of the poor don't work at all, and 90% or so don't work very hard (full time). http://www.bls.gov/cps/cpswp2008.pdf http://www.bls.gov/cps/cpswp2008.pdf Furthermore, the claim that the poor have the "wrong attitude[1]" is also fairly well supported. Here is a recent paper, getting quite a bit of play, which argues that the poor have a higher time-discount rate than the rich. (There is a lot of work concurring with it, see the citations for example.) http://www.rand.org/pubs/working_papers/2010/RAND_WR759.pdf http://www.rand.org/pubs/working_papers/2010/RAND_WR759.pdf [1] I'm interpreting "wrong attitude" to mean "an attitude which leads to poverty", and am not making any value judgements.
  • geezer 16y ago
    Its important to differentiate the cause from the effect though. Attitudes leading to poverty, lack of hard work and various other related factors can very well be the effect of poverty. There are plenty of studies supporting that premise. Here is a relevant story: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10213/1076801-115.stm http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10213/1076801-115.stm