4 ms·

> poor people can't be expected to read books, or eat vegetables, or go for walks, or tell their kids to do their homework, or help their kids to read, etc, etc

> poor people can't be expected to read books, or eat vegetables, or go for walks, or tell their kids to do their homework, or help their kids to read, etc, etc. None of these things require money. Those things still require free time. Having these as values and being able to regularly practice them are two different things. I don't see how that fact is "well meaning crap".

p1esk 5y ago
Are you saying poor people have less free time than others?
- badlucklottery 5y ago
  If you're talking about the working poor: 1. they often have multiple jobs since many jobs on the lower end don't pay a living wage. 2. they have longer commutes so they live in less expensive communities where their wages can go further. But those communities tend to have less available jobs overall. So, on average, yeah. Less free time for the working poor.
  - p1esk 5y ago
    This is where having hard data would help. Do the poor actually work multiple jobs? Do they actually have longer commutes? On average. And to be more specific, we can compare people who make 50k in bay area (poor) to people who make 200k (e.g. Silicon Volley SWEs frequently seen on HN).
_hyn3 5y ago
The average adult in the United States watches more than 4 hours of television per day, proving that most have both free time and a television. https://www.statista.com/chart/15224/daily-tv-consumption-by-us-adults/ https://www.statista.com/chart/15224/daily-tv-consumption-by... The decrease in television watching is actually among the more technically literate, not illiterate; according to Nielsen, younger people are watching streaming services instead of television.
- ipaddr 5y ago
  Watching television is not free time that can be switched out for other activities. Much of the television watching happens after the kids have gone to sleep as a wind down activity. Also popular is tv before work in the background on a morning show or tv in the background while cooking or cleaning. Trying to teach your kids how to read or reading them a story cannot happen when much of the tv is consumed.
  - nverno 5y ago
    4 hours/day of TV watching is crazy and I think this is a very generous portrayal of that time. It is certainly /possible/ for parents to adjust their schedules to spend an hour reading to kids at night (top priority imo). Treating TV as an essential activity is a new one I find quite depressing. Parents using TV as a crutch to entertain kids is really common, and I'm eternally grateful I grew up in a home without TV. However, that was pre-modern streaming, ipads for kids, etc.

p1esk 5y ago

Are you saying poor people have less free time than others?

badlucklottery 5y ago
If you're talking about the working poor: 1. they often have multiple jobs since many jobs on the lower end don't pay a living wage. 2. they have longer commutes so they live in less expensive communities where their wages can go further. But those communities tend to have less available jobs overall. So, on average, yeah. Less free time for the working poor.
- p1esk 5y ago
  This is where having hard data would help. Do the poor actually work multiple jobs? Do they actually have longer commutes? On average. And to be more specific, we can compare people who make 50k in bay area (poor) to people who make 200k (e.g. Silicon Volley SWEs frequently seen on HN).

_hyn3 5y ago

The average adult in the United States watches more than 4 hours of television per day, proving that most have both free time and a television. https://www.statista.com/chart/15224/daily-tv-consumption-by-us-adults/ https://www.statista.com/chart/15224/daily-tv-consumption-by... The decrease in television watching is actually among the more technically literate, not illiterate; according to Nielsen, younger people are watching streaming services instead of television.

ipaddr 5y ago
Watching television is not free time that can be switched out for other activities. Much of the television watching happens after the kids have gone to sleep as a wind down activity. Also popular is tv before work in the background on a morning show or tv in the background while cooking or cleaning. Trying to teach your kids how to read or reading them a story cannot happen when much of the tv is consumed.
- nverno 5y ago
  4 hours/day of TV watching is crazy and I think this is a very generous portrayal of that time. It is certainly /possible/ for parents to adjust their schedules to spend an hour reading to kids at night (top priority imo). Treating TV as an essential activity is a new one I find quite depressing. Parents using TV as a crutch to entertain kids is really common, and I'm eternally grateful I grew up in a home without TV. However, that was pre-modern streaming, ipads for kids, etc.