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The fact that poor people spend more money on things than rich people, once you include replacing them when they wear out. Or do you think that it's just that

The fact that poor people spend more money on things than rich people, once you include replacing them when they wear out. Or do you think that it's just that the poor people are held down? (Cue stories about people working their way out of poverty and thus proving the poverty trap isn't a real thing)

Waterluvian 7y ago
I see an interesting form of this that isn't exclusive to the poor: daycare. My wife has the luxury of not having to work so we have never used daycare. That's tens of thousands of dollars, hundreds of hours driving, not getting sick all the time, not needing a second car, the list goes on not to mention the immeasurable cost of missing out on the absolute best hours of your child's life.
- distances 7y ago
  In the US. Over here daycare is paid by taxes, free for everyone regardless of income or employment status, and in the city you'll likely have the daycare within a couple of blocks so no extra car needed either. Yes you'll get a cold more often thanks to all the germs, but sick days don't eat to your salary or holidays (also sick time on holidays gets reimbursed!) so no monetary loss. You'll miss out on a lot of the time with your kid, but on the other hand they get to socialize a lot more from a very young age already. Some parents also burn out at home after a while, but that of course depends on the person. I realize this went quite offtopic, sorry about that.
  - Waterluvian 7y ago
    Thanks for sharing and helping reduce my ignorance on the subject. I'll be honest, any social service we have in Canada, I just assume the US has it worse. I believe we have cheap or free subsidized daycare too but it's generally terrible. There's also 12 month waiting lists where I live. My colleagues all pay tens of thousands.
    - distances 7y ago
      Sorry if I was unclear, my report was from an European standpoint. I just assumed you're from the US, probably based on the yearly cost you mentioned.
      - Waterluvian 7y ago
        Ohh okay. From Canada. Free if you don't make much money. I thought you were initializing with "I'm in the US".
- dsfyu404ed 7y ago
  Poor people don't pay what rich people pay for daycare because they daisy chain together some combination of under the table daycare and relatives. There's obviously trade-offs to that approach but my point is that upper middle class patterns of behavior shouldn't be projected up and down the economic ladder. Upper middle class people call a plumber. Poor people call a plumber that owes them a favor.. Etc, etc. and so on and so fourth. It's a whole different economy and a lot of the patterns surrounding the crap in life that saps your money are totally different.

Waterluvian 7y ago

I see an interesting form of this that isn't exclusive to the poor: daycare. My wife has the luxury of not having to work so we have never used daycare. That's tens of thousands of dollars, hundreds of hours driving, not getting sick all the time, not needing a second car, the list goes on not to mention the immeasurable cost of missing out on the absolute best hours of your child's life.

distances 7y ago
In the US. Over here daycare is paid by taxes, free for everyone regardless of income or employment status, and in the city you'll likely have the daycare within a couple of blocks so no extra car needed either. Yes you'll get a cold more often thanks to all the germs, but sick days don't eat to your salary or holidays (also sick time on holidays gets reimbursed!) so no monetary loss. You'll miss out on a lot of the time with your kid, but on the other hand they get to socialize a lot more from a very young age already. Some parents also burn out at home after a while, but that of course depends on the person. I realize this went quite offtopic, sorry about that.
- Waterluvian 7y ago
  Thanks for sharing and helping reduce my ignorance on the subject. I'll be honest, any social service we have in Canada, I just assume the US has it worse. I believe we have cheap or free subsidized daycare too but it's generally terrible. There's also 12 month waiting lists where I live. My colleagues all pay tens of thousands.
  - distances 7y ago
    Sorry if I was unclear, my report was from an European standpoint. I just assumed you're from the US, probably based on the yearly cost you mentioned.
    - Waterluvian 7y ago
      Ohh okay. From Canada. Free if you don't make much money. I thought you were initializing with "I'm in the US".
dsfyu404ed 7y ago
Poor people don't pay what rich people pay for daycare because they daisy chain together some combination of under the table daycare and relatives. There's obviously trade-offs to that approach but my point is that upper middle class patterns of behavior shouldn't be projected up and down the economic ladder. Upper middle class people call a plumber. Poor people call a plumber that owes them a favor.. Etc, etc. and so on and so fourth. It's a whole different economy and a lot of the patterns surrounding the crap in life that saps your money are totally different.