8 ms·

This. Poverty doesn't just cause immediate issues it can also cause long term issues that can effect not only adults, but the children who grew up in that envi

This. Poverty doesn't just cause immediate issues it can also cause long term issues that can effect not only adults, but the children who grew up in that environment. This is largely because families in poverty tend to also abuse their kids at higher rates (this includes mental abuse) or at least foster an extremely unhealthy environment due to the stress it causes. So even a generation later it can be difficult for a family tree to be lifted out of that situation. It's brutal not having a support system in place for people. What sucks is that it's probably bad for overall productivity to not help people in these situations, but the usa has chosen to say screw it for many years (hopefully that is changing). Imo forget being "rich", just growing up in a relatively sane environment is an advantage.

reader_mode 6y ago
I grew up in a family of 7 (4 younger siblings), during civil war, father was into gamling and drinking, mother was unemployed and constantly on the verge of a mental breakdown (understandable given the conditions she was living in). To paint the picture, I have vivid memories of vomiting a boiled onion I ate after not eating for days (I think I was arround 5 years old). And we were poor well into my early 20s untill I left home. It took a long time to get out of that, and material problems were an issue for sure, but I would say the biggest obstacle for me was that I had no rolemodel and was forced to discover everything on my own. In retrospect I had plenty of opportunities to get out of my situation way earlier and I could have done a lot of things better, and it was pretty common sense to most normal/functioning people - but I didn't have a lot of those arround me. And that wouldn't change if you gave my parents money - after my grandparents died my mother inherited some land and a house, in a year she managed to squander it away with terrible spending decisions and no long term planning (coupled with the sense of entitlement and expectation that things will just work out). I also never viewed school as something relevant, teachers were hardly authoritative figures (from my perspective their job was to babysit me and they were poorly paid - why would I accept them as authority on anything). So I don't think it's something you can solve with money alone, having functional parents is always going to set you up to do better in life.
- onion2k 6y ago
  I don't think anyone is suggesting problems can be solved with money alone. What's very obvious is that a capable person without resources will struggle while a much less capable person who has the safety net of a wealthy background can still be successful. No one is suggesting it's guaranteed though.
- rob74 6y ago
  That's the classic "you shouldn't give money to poor people, they are just going to spend it on alcohol, drugs etc." argument. This ignores that there are a lot of people who are unable to make ends meet despite having not one but sometimes several jobs. Maybe people would be less stressed if they knew they wouldn't lose their job if their car (>20 years old, which they can't afford to repair) breaks down...
  - reader_mode 6y ago
    Where am I saying that ?
    - rob74 6y ago
      Sorry if my comment came across as insensitive, especially since it's your own family history, but you should be aware that people might read your comment that way: "father was into gamling and drinking [...] So I don't think it's something you can solve with money alone". And yeah, the "working poor" I mentioned is a "first world issue" (even though, for the people involved, it's still not a good situation), other countries have worse problems (civil wars, rampant corruption etc.).
      - OnlyOneCannolo 6y ago
        > I don't think it's something you can solve with money alone Emphasis mine. Pretty unambiguous that it says money is necessary but not sufficient. This is on you for misreading it.
        6y ago
ashtonkem 6y ago
Don't forget malnutrition. High quality calories are expensive.
jdc 6y ago
> This is largely because families in poverty tend to also abuse their kids at higher rates Source?
- ironman1478 6y ago
  Sure. A quick Google search yielded the articles below. I don't have authoritative papers to reference, so you'll have to do your own digging too. But it also makes sense when you are aware of the realities of being in poverty. You also left out what I put in parentheses. Mental abuse is abuse and many children are subject to it. I explicitly called it out because I personally feel that people underestimate the damage it does primarily because it's something that is just completely alien to many people and cannot be related to. I also think people do not tend to realize what mental abuse is and in how many ways it can take shape. https://stateofopportunity.michiganradio.org/post/poorest-children-us-are-most-vulnerable-child-abuse-deaths https://stateofopportunity.michiganradio.org/post/poorest-ch... And this https://www.nber.org/digest/jan00/poverty-and-mistreatment-children-go-hand-hand https://www.nber.org/digest/jan00/poverty-and-mistreatment-c... Also, not to make excuses but I think in the mental abuse case people don't always know they are doing it. They do what their parents did or learned from those around them who also didn't know what they were doing.
- baq 6y ago
  Lazy?
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
phekunde 6y ago
> Poverty doesn't just cause immediate issues it can also cause long term issues that can effect not only adults, but the children who grew up in that environment. This is absolutely true! > This is largely because families in poverty tend to also abuse their kids at higher rates (this includes mental abuse) or at least foster an extremely unhealthy environment due to the stress it causes. This could be true with some families, but most parents try at least not to go below the financial level they are at. I remember my parent use to get all jittery even at a slight stress on the finances fearing that they will not be able to sustain. They had prioritised education, food, clothing in that order. Unfortunately, after education and food nothing was left! I remember wearing same set of clothes for almost a decade. Even now, even though I can afford to spend, I got into that habbit of wearing same clothes most of the time. I still use clothes that are almost 10 years old! I remember we(I and my friends, they too were from the same financial status) use to wear same worn-out/torn school uniforms by doing something called "rafoo". That made us kids understand value of money and the determination to get out of the situation as soon as possible. The problem we faced was lack of information and support network. We had to build it ourselves from scratch, most of the time stumbling. It also dents the confidence as you don't know how long it is going to take to achieve your goals, if at all it can be acheived!
teddyh 6y ago
Whenever this topic comes up, I like to link to these excellent and eye-opening articles: • 5 Things Nobody Tells You About Being Poor, May 27, 2011: (https://www.cracked.com/blog/5-things-nobody-tells-you-about-being-poor/ https://www.cracked.com/blog/5-things-nobody-tells-you-about...) • The 5 Stupidest Habits You Develop Growing Up Poor, January 19, 2012: (https://www.cracked.com/blog/4-things-politicians-will-never-understand-about-poor-people/ https://www.cracked.com/blog/4-things-politicians-will-never...) • 4 Things Politicians Will Never Understand About Poor People, February 21, 2013: (https://www.cracked.com/blog/4-things-politicians-will-never-understand-about-poor-people/ https://www.cracked.com/blog/4-things-politicians-will-never...)
- bsenftner 6y ago
  fantastic articles - and from Cracked!
- jordan314 6y ago
  Second link: https://www.cracked.com/blog/the-5-stupidest-habits-you-develop-growing-up-poor/ https://www.cracked.com/blog/the-5-stupidest-habits-you-deve...
  - teddyh 6y ago
    Whoops, mis-copy-and-paste. Thanks!
- pards 6y ago
  The 2nd link is a duplicate. Here's the correct one The 5 Stupidest Habits You Develop Growing Up Poor: * (https://www.cracked.com/blog/the-5-stupidest-habits-you-develop-growing-up-poor/ https://www.cracked.com/blog/the-5-stupidest-habits-you-deve...)

reader_mode 6y ago

I grew up in a family of 7 (4 younger siblings), during civil war, father was into gamling and drinking, mother was unemployed and constantly on the verge of a mental breakdown (understandable given the conditions she was living in). To paint the picture, I have vivid memories of vomiting a boiled onion I ate after not eating for days (I think I was arround 5 years old). And we were poor well into my early 20s untill I left home. It took a long time to get out of that, and material problems were an issue for sure, but I would say the biggest obstacle for me was that I had no rolemodel and was forced to discover everything on my own. In retrospect I had plenty of opportunities to get out of my situation way earlier and I could have done a lot of things better, and it was pretty common sense to most normal/functioning people - but I didn't have a lot of those arround me. And that wouldn't change if you gave my parents money - after my grandparents died my mother inherited some land and a house, in a year she managed to squander it away with terrible spending decisions and no long term planning (coupled with the sense of entitlement and expectation that things will just work out). I also never viewed school as something relevant, teachers were hardly authoritative figures (from my perspective their job was to babysit me and they were poorly paid - why would I accept them as authority on anything). So I don't think it's something you can solve with money alone, having functional parents is always going to set you up to do better in life.

onion2k 6y ago
I don't think anyone is suggesting problems can be solved with money alone. What's very obvious is that a capable person without resources will struggle while a much less capable person who has the safety net of a wealthy background can still be successful. No one is suggesting it's guaranteed though.
rob74 6y ago
That's the classic "you shouldn't give money to poor people, they are just going to spend it on alcohol, drugs etc." argument. This ignores that there are a lot of people who are unable to make ends meet despite having not one but sometimes several jobs. Maybe people would be less stressed if they knew they wouldn't lose their job if their car (>20 years old, which they can't afford to repair) breaks down...
- reader_mode 6y ago
  Where am I saying that ?
  - rob74 6y ago
    Sorry if my comment came across as insensitive, especially since it's your own family history, but you should be aware that people might read your comment that way: "father was into gamling and drinking [...] So I don't think it's something you can solve with money alone". And yeah, the "working poor" I mentioned is a "first world issue" (even though, for the people involved, it's still not a good situation), other countries have worse problems (civil wars, rampant corruption etc.).
    - OnlyOneCannolo 6y ago
      > I don't think it's something you can solve with money alone Emphasis mine. Pretty unambiguous that it says money is necessary but not sufficient. This is on you for misreading it.
      - 6y ago

ashtonkem 6y ago

Don't forget malnutrition. High quality calories are expensive.

jdc 6y ago

> This is largely because families in poverty tend to also abuse their kids at higher rates Source?

ironman1478 6y ago
Sure. A quick Google search yielded the articles below. I don't have authoritative papers to reference, so you'll have to do your own digging too. But it also makes sense when you are aware of the realities of being in poverty. You also left out what I put in parentheses. Mental abuse is abuse and many children are subject to it. I explicitly called it out because I personally feel that people underestimate the damage it does primarily because it's something that is just completely alien to many people and cannot be related to. I also think people do not tend to realize what mental abuse is and in how many ways it can take shape. https://stateofopportunity.michiganradio.org/post/poorest-children-us-are-most-vulnerable-child-abuse-deaths https://stateofopportunity.michiganradio.org/post/poorest-ch... And this https://www.nber.org/digest/jan00/poverty-and-mistreatment-children-go-hand-hand https://www.nber.org/digest/jan00/poverty-and-mistreatment-c... Also, not to make excuses but I think in the mental abuse case people don't always know they are doing it. They do what their parents did or learned from those around them who also didn't know what they were doing.
baq 6y ago
Lazy?

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

phekunde 6y ago

> Poverty doesn't just cause immediate issues it can also cause long term issues that can effect not only adults, but the children who grew up in that environment. This is absolutely true! > This is largely because families in poverty tend to also abuse their kids at higher rates (this includes mental abuse) or at least foster an extremely unhealthy environment due to the stress it causes. This could be true with some families, but most parents try at least not to go below the financial level they are at. I remember my parent use to get all jittery even at a slight stress on the finances fearing that they will not be able to sustain. They had prioritised education, food, clothing in that order. Unfortunately, after education and food nothing was left! I remember wearing same set of clothes for almost a decade. Even now, even though I can afford to spend, I got into that habbit of wearing same clothes most of the time. I still use clothes that are almost 10 years old! I remember we(I and my friends, they too were from the same financial status) use to wear same worn-out/torn school uniforms by doing something called "rafoo". That made us kids understand value of money and the determination to get out of the situation as soon as possible. The problem we faced was lack of information and support network. We had to build it ourselves from scratch, most of the time stumbling. It also dents the confidence as you don't know how long it is going to take to achieve your goals, if at all it can be acheived!

teddyh 6y ago

Whenever this topic comes up, I like to link to these excellent and eye-opening articles: • 5 Things Nobody Tells You About Being Poor, May 27, 2011: (https://www.cracked.com/blog/5-things-nobody-tells-you-about-being-poor/ https://www.cracked.com/blog/5-things-nobody-tells-you-about...) • The 5 Stupidest Habits You Develop Growing Up Poor, January 19, 2012: (https://www.cracked.com/blog/4-things-politicians-will-never-understand-about-poor-people/ https://www.cracked.com/blog/4-things-politicians-will-never...) • 4 Things Politicians Will Never Understand About Poor People, February 21, 2013: (https://www.cracked.com/blog/4-things-politicians-will-never-understand-about-poor-people/ https://www.cracked.com/blog/4-things-politicians-will-never...)

bsenftner 6y ago
fantastic articles - and from Cracked!
jordan314 6y ago
Second link: https://www.cracked.com/blog/the-5-stupidest-habits-you-develop-growing-up-poor/ https://www.cracked.com/blog/the-5-stupidest-habits-you-deve...
- teddyh 6y ago
  Whoops, mis-copy-and-paste. Thanks!
pards 6y ago
The 2nd link is a duplicate. Here's the correct one The 5 Stupidest Habits You Develop Growing Up Poor: * (https://www.cracked.com/blog/the-5-stupidest-habits-you-develop-growing-up-poor/ https://www.cracked.com/blog/the-5-stupidest-habits-you-deve...)