The High Cost of Poverty: Why the Poor Pay More

[Shwaz]

I know 2 girls that work the same job.

One of the girls is 21 single and barely getting by on her wages. She lives with her boyfriend splitting bills and has a apartment in Riverside.

The other girl is in her 30's a single mom living in the urban core. She get's free cell phone, day care, baby food & diapers, Medicaid and subsidized housing. She also works part time because if she earns too much she'll go up in tax bracket's and also lose all these perk's including the subsidized housing. At the end of the year she essentially has paid no income tax (with her refund) and cost of living is much less than her 21 year old co-worker.

The U.S. rewards under achieving and as long as we do people will continue to stay "poor", work less and take advantage.

[Jason]

The problem is that once someone goes beneath the poverty line its very tough to raise up from.  You can't get a good job because you passed up the higher education necessary.  If you're working you likely can't afford to go to school because you can't miss work or afford internet access or viable transportation or necessary child care, etc.  Its a vicious cycle that's tough to beat, although, it certainly CAN be beaten.

True, many are there because of bad decisions or laziness or crime, however there are still a large number of people that can't work for one reason or another.  Wether its a physical or mental disability, illness, etc.


Great points schwaz

[Coolyfett]

The High Cost of Poverty: Why the Poor Pay More

Having Little Money Often Means No Car, No Washing Machine, No Checking Account And No Break From Fees and High Prices

You have to be rich to be poor.

That's what some people who have never lived below the poverty line don't understand.

Put it another way: The poorer you are, the more things cost. More in money, time, hassle, exhaustion, menace. This is a fact of life that reality television and magazines don't often explain.

So we'll explain it here. Consider this a primer on the economics of poverty.

"The poor pay more for a gallon of milk; they pay more on a capital basis for inferior housing," says Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.). "The poor and 100 million who are struggling for the middle class actually end up paying more for transportation, for housing, for health care, for mortgages. They get steered to subprime lending. . . . The poor pay more for things middle-class America takes for granted."

Poverty 101: We'll start with the basics.

Like food: You don't have a car to get to a supermarket, much less to Costco or Trader Joe's, where the middle class goes to save money. You don't have three hours to take the bus. So you buy groceries at the corner store, where a gallon of milk costs an extra dollar.

A loaf of bread there costs you $2.99 for white. For wheat, it's $3.79. The clerk behind the counter tells you the gallon of leaking milk in the bottom of the back cooler is $4.99. She holds up four fingers to clarify. The milk is beneath the shelf that holds beef bologna for $3.79. A pound of butter sells for $4.49. In the back of the store are fruits and vegetables. The green peppers are shriveled, the bananas are more brown than yellow, the oranges are picked over.

(At a Safeway on Bradley Boulevard in Bethesda, the wheat bread costs $1.19, and white bread is on sale for $1. A gallon of milk costs $3.49 -- $2.99 if you buy two gallons. A pound of butter is $2.49. Beef bologna is on sale, two packages for $5.)

Prices in urban corner stores are almost always higher, economists say. And sometimes, prices in supermarkets in poorer neighborhoods are higher. Many of these stores charge more because the cost of doing business in some neighborhoods is higher. "First, they are probably paying more on goods because they don't get the low wholesale price that bigger stores get," says Bradley R. Schiller, a professor emeritus at American University and the author of "The Economics of Poverty and Discrimination."

"The real estate is higher. The fact that volume is low means fewer sales per worker. They make fewer dollars of revenue per square foot of space. They don't end up making more money. Every corner grocery store wishes they had profits their customers think they have."

According to the Census Bureau, more than 37 million people in the country live below the poverty line. The poor know these facts of life. These facts become their lives.

Continue:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/17/AR2009051702053_2.html

Interesting article, There are some ways to beat things though, I am living in situational poverty, a difference from generational poverty, But that will change once I make more connects and learn more about my new home. One thing for sure, the poor do things last minute, they go to bed late and wake up late. They eat more fast food than groceries, and after bills are paid they spend up all their money, Its like they don't believe in saving anything. Other things I notice is they don't like to do direct deposit or bring lunch to work. Its weird, like when I am making less money than normal, I make proper adjustments, make a budget to live below my means. The generational poverty people they don't take the time to make things easier for themselves. Let me explain generational poverty, those are the people that pack Winn Dixie and Food Lion on the 1st & 3rd of the month. Its like all of them come out at one time, from the 20th to the end of the month, you do not see them at all. Also being that I work with some that come from generational poverty, they behave differently at the work place. Their attitude is "Im ready to go home" people from Middle Class are like "lets get the work done so the job is easier today" Its a huge noticeable difference. Just my 2 cents.

[Coolyfett]

"Corner store" is another name for "convenience store" - and they charge more than grocery stores in all neighborhood's not just the ghetto.

Shwaz is correct, corner stores charge more everywhere.

[Coolyfett]

I would venture to guess that most poverty in the U.S. is self induced.  Failure to take advantage of educational opportunities... early involvement in crime, early drug and alcohol abuse.  ANY person born into poverty in this country can rise out of it.  It is done every day and by people of all colors and ethnicity.  This is where America differs from other countries...

In a way you are correct, people born into have a harder time getting away from it, due to peer pressure. Sometimes someone can be involved in a corporate lay off and it may take some time to recover, so don't forget about those people. Its all about goals and accomplishments. If one does not have those they will stay in one place IMO. The thing about cigs, beer and lotto tickets is spot on!!! I seen people from poverty spend like 10-20$ a day on those lame ass tickets. Its funny to me.

[Shwaz]

Lotto is really away the state recoups all the money they shell out to the poor. They hand it out and the poor give it right back.