Is it easy to get out of poverty?

[SpaceyGirl]

Do you think it's easy to get out of poverty? As in, you were born poor, so don't include people who were not poor. It's a yes or no question, but I'd like to hear your reasoning for it. Even better, please share your stories! Your hardships and successes!

One of my friend's brothers was talking about how "if you just work hard, anyone could get themselves out of poverty."

I was about speechless.
To me, this isn't like the 1940s where working part time at McDonalds can pay for a years college.
One bad health incident can put someone behind decades of earnings.
If you're in a competitive field and you're not attractive or have enough experience, how do you get more experience??

I got out of poverty. I wasn't homeless growing up, but I'm pretty sure the reason we moved every 2 years was because we were getting evicted. My parents were in super debt. Every month was a battle between buying food or saving every dollar for rent so we don't get kicked out again because the current place was the absolute cheapest on the market. I didn't get my license or a car until I was 22. I had $0 for college. Plan B was to become a stripper.

But I f*ing lucked out. A college accepted my sad sob story and my average GPA. I was able to get some loans.
I managed to get a job at a sandwich shop on campus after checking in with them everyday for a month until they had a no-show, that took care of food.
I worked full time while going to school full time with extra units so I could graduate early and not get even more buried by loans.

But after I graduated, dangit, I didn't do internships and every "entry level job" required at least an internship.
4-5 more years working at random food shops, since that's all the experience I had... I had no car but walking ~4 miles to work everyday was fine. My bike got stolen 3 times, ugh.
But then, a lucky break! A friend recommended me to a grunt position in a company and I got accepted. From there, I got some experience, got moved around from company to company a few times. One year, the company I was at was near bankruptcy and let go of a lot of the company. I survived, I was cheap to keep. But then everyone needed to do more and, wait! I had a degree in this field! They created a new 'junior' position for me. Finally, 8 years later, I managed to get hired for a position I thought I would have out of college.

Getting out of poverty was not easy for me. At any point, my life would be very different; if I didn't get a lucky break getting accepted into college, if I didn't get a job to pay for school and food, if I didn't have that one friend who got me that one position, if my mother got sick, I would've moved back to take care of her. I also know there were a couple jobs where I was chosen over another, more qualified applicant because I am a not-bad looking female. Yes, I worked hard and yes, I made it out, but on my journey, I've seen so many people who've worked as hard if not harder than me and is still making minimum wage. It completely breaks my heart. I will also note that "out of poverty" for me is not living paycheck to paycheck and you have like 3-6 months of emergency funds.

Sorry for the long intro, I guess the question is just: Do you think it's easy to get out of poverty? Why or why not?
Also, I live in the USA if that changes anything.

[Pidgey]

You have an awesome story and should be proud of yourself!

I wouldnt say its easy... nothing in life is.

I made it out of poverty.

[Unown]

No it really isn't.

And the people who manage to do that despite their situation and not being from an already well-off family, kudos to you.

Hard work does affect many thing yes, but in this day and age, it's all about opportunity and luck.

I know of some people who don't work hard at all but they had the opportunity to be in large corporations where they hardly do much work, clock in late and out on time, and are paid truckloads. I also know of smart and hardworking people who are just shit outta luck when it comes to opportunities.

[SpaceyGirl]

T_T (tears of joy) I'm kinda glad the first two responses have the same response as me..!

All my life, my parents have said "work hard and you'll make it" "THE AMeRiCAn dReaM"...
They make it sound so easy and I'm glad I'm not alone in knowing (or thinking) that it's not easy and that people who are struggling can't just go into job-mart and get a great job..

Still definitely waiting to hear someone on the other side though!

[Mama Bear]

A lot of you have heard snippets of my childhood before, so feel free to skip ahead if you already know my story.

Short answer: "easy" is a strong word, but I'd say it's more easy than people may think. Medium answer: yes, if you're willing to work hard and make responsible choices.

I was the accidental result of high teenagers and a David Bowie concert. Both my parents were high school drop outs. We never had enough money, despite both my parents working, due to their selfish vices. Drinking, smoking, drugs and gambling took the majority of our family income. I would forego Christmas and birthday presents as soon as I was old enough to understand the impact of money spent on luxuries versus bills (my sister did not, which continues to be a sore point).

My mum has admitted to 5 different drugs used while pregnant (plus booze and tobacco), plus amusement park rides. Yet somehow that combination of risks churned out someone who, ego aside, is objectively smarter than your average bear. I took advantage of this. I earned my way into a private school on a full scholarship. This meant 2 trains and a bus each way, and I remember being given the weekly fare for this journey twice in my 6 years at that school. Most of the time, I just had to duck the ticket inspectors (caught twice - once pretended to only speak Italian, once pretended to be deaf; got away with it both times, somehow) or steal the money from my father if I could get away with it, until I was old enough to get a job and pay for it legitimately myself.

I was the first in my family to go to university. Again, working my way through. Australia's university debt system is definitely more povvo-friendly than the US one, I acknowledge. I chose a career I enjoy, rather than the most lucrative one. But I am in a position where we are financially comfortable enough to own our home, two cars and have my husband be a stay-at-home dad to our kids. We don't live paycheck to paycheck. We have a strong buffer and make voluntary contributions to my super (like your 401k, I think) to ensure that we'll be well established in retirement. I hear people in my same industry crying poor, but when I hear what they spend their money on, it's no wonder.

Want to make getting out of poverty easy? Make responsible choices. We don't smoke, drink, gamble, do drugs, etc. That, in itself, saves thousands each year. The other day I posted on a thread here that a pack/day smoker in Australia is committing more than $18k/year to that habit alone. Beyond that though, people seem to make such utterly unnecessary choices in how they live. We have a friend teacher who spends an average of $40 on takeaway for himself per day. For others, it might be about fashion/shoes/bags/watches/jewllery/whatever. For others, it might be about just having to have the newest iPhone. I get that if you earn the money, it's yours to spend. But don't wonder why you're still povvo when you're prioritising a new pair of Nikes for your kid over paying their school fees, or buying them a workbook. Drives me up the fucking wall. Or breeding beyond what you're able to support. There's one family here with 14 children. None of them are multiples. 14 fucking children. Even with the government support you'd get for them, of course you're fucking poor. Make better choices. That sort of shit is a mess of your own making, that you're now inflicting on innocent kids.

I attribute my fiscal responsibility to being raised in such a shitty environment, so am grateful for that. And yes, some people will work hard, make good choices and get screwed over by things like COVID affecting their job security. But for the majority, it honestly just seems like the most difficult part of breaking out of poverty is changing to a mindset of responsibility.

[Zer0]

Do you think it's easy to get out of poverty? As in, you were born poor, so don't include people who were not poor. It's a yes or no question, but I'd like to hear your reasoning for it. Even better, please share your stories! Your hardships and successes!

One of my friend's brothers was talking about how "if you just work hard, anyone could get themselves out of poverty."



I was about speechless.
To me, this isn't like the 1940s where working part time at McDonalds can pay for a years college.
One bad health incident can put someone behind decades of earnings.
If you're in a competitive field and you're not attractive or have enough experience, how do you get more experience??

I got out of poverty. I wasn't homeless growing up, but I'm pretty sure the reason we moved every 2 years was because we were getting evicted. My parents were in super debt. Every month was a battle between buying food or saving every dollar for rent so we don't get kicked out again because the current place was the absolute cheapest on the market. I didn't get my license or a car until I was 22. I had $0 for college. Plan B was to become a stripper.

But I f*ing lucked out. A college accepted my sad sob story and my average GPA. I was able to get some loans.
I managed to get a job at a sandwich shop on campus after checking in with them everyday for a month until they had a no-show, that took care of food.
I worked full time while going to school full time with extra units so I could graduate early and not get even more buried by loans.

But after I graduated, dangit, I didn't do internships and every "entry level job" required at least an internship.
4-5 more years working at random food shops, since that's all the experience I had... I had no car but walking ~4 miles to work everyday was fine. My bike got stolen 3 times, ugh.
But then, a lucky break! A friend recommended me to a grunt position in a company and I got accepted. From there, I got some experience, got moved around from company to company a few times. One year, the company I was at was near bankruptcy and let go of a lot of the company. I survived, I was cheap to keep. But then everyone needed to do more and, wait! I had a degree in this field! They created a new 'junior' position for me. Finally, 8 years later, I managed to get hired for a position I thought I would have out of college.

Getting out of poverty was not easy for me. At any point, my life would be very different; if I didn't get a lucky break getting accepted into college, if I didn't get a job to pay for school and food, if I didn't have that one friend who got me that one position, if my mother got sick, I would've moved back to take care of her. I also know there were a couple jobs where I was chosen over another, more qualified applicant because I am a not-bad looking female. Yes, I worked hard and yes, I made it out, but on my journey, I've seen so many people who've worked as hard if not harder than me and is still making minimum wage. It completely breaks my heart. I will also note that "out of poverty" for me is not living paycheck to paycheck and you have like 3-6 months of emergency funds.

Sorry for the long intro, I guess the question is just: Do you think it's easy to get out of poverty? Why or why not?
Also, I live in the USA if that changes anything.

That is quite an interesting story. I think it depends on what you mean by poverty. Did you mean it in the literal meaning or something similar to your case? If so, yeah it is tough. It is doable but tough. For those from a low income family that aren't in poverty, it is possible. But from what I gathered from other online friends, it really varies where you are from. In places like Singapore, they have no minimum wage. In the US, everything costs an arm and a leg (e.g: education, seeing a doctor). In Canada, I would say it is definitely a lot easier. I am a child who grew up in low income family. We are still low income and I just recently graduated. It is definitely tricky with the pandemic, but once I land a job, everything should be smooth sailing. Things should be looking brighter for me as I've had plenty of work experience and an internship before.

[Foxglove]

No, I definitely don't think it's easy. Major props to all of those who were able to make it out of their impoverished upbringings <3. I'm just speaking from the U.S. perspective since that's what I'm most familiar with. It would require a number of factors including a lot of hard work (working hard the RIGHT way - not working hard in, say, a coal mine your entire life - even though that is most certainly very hard work <3), having the "right" mindset in a context where most people around you likely don't think or see the world the way you do, certainly a bit of luck, the support of people around you (be it teachers, school counselors, etc), and (most likely) a willingness to be very different from the people in your family/school/community.
The systems in the U.S. definitely set impoverished people at a disadvantage. I mean, for one, the cost of university tuition is extremely high, and having a network/connections with the right people is hugely helpful towards landing a well-paying job. Impoverished areas also tend to lack some of the resources that the bigger, wealthier cities have -- top hospitals, top universities, top K-12 schools, safe recreation areas for youth, etc. These are all resources that help people make it into university, etc -- for example, a high schooler from a wealthy background would have the free time and resources to be able to (for example) be president/council of a school club; and if they lived in an area with a good local university, they'd to be able to take up an internship in a research lab, and gain valuable experience that would look great on a college application. (Not saying a university education is absolutely necessary for success/escaping poverty at all, but just trying to illustrate an example.)

[I_royalty_I]

Nothing worth doing is ever easy. However, there are lots of opportunities to get assistance in the US right now. Whether it's help from finding a job, monetary assistance for buying food, cell phone, cheaper housing, etc. Even with all of those things, it's still not particularly easy. It takes hard work and determination. You have to want a better life. I know too many people who have become complacent and don't feel the need to put in the effort. Then they sit back and say things aren't fair - why can't they have this or that like their friends.

I was lucky enough to grow up comfortable. My parents worked hard and made sacrifices, and still do. I started working as soon as I possibly could, and have been working ever since. I've always been very independent and don't like asking for help. I find it works best for me when my backup plans have backup plans just in case I ever find myself in a pinch and need to pull in additional resources.

The motto "work smarter, not harder" has always resonated with me. The ability to hone in and focus intensely on something until I make it happen has been my goal. I didn't do well my first year of college, despite taking top classes and doing well in high school. My family said maybe college wasn't for me and laid out other options. But I found a school and degree that I wanted. I had to get my counselors approval to take more credits than they recommended each semester so I could knock it out as quick as possible. From fast food, to poker/black jack dealing, delivery driver, odd jobs here and there - I've done it all.

Eventually I landed a nice job in my field after spending countless hours searching, interviewing and prepping to show off my skills. That feeling of finally reaching your goal is amazing. However, one lesson learned was to never be satisfied with where you are. Always strive for and want more. I've reached a point in my life where I've achieved many of the personal and professional goals I initially set and I find myself working towards defining new ones. I know there's more room to grow. I'm not in poverty, but I'm not rich. I have a good job, nice house, but I still rely on that next paycheck every other week. It's all a matter of perspective.

I find people who have come from less and have the drive to push further and achieve greater especially inspiring. I think it's possible for anybody to be successful. A big part of it depends on who you surround yourself with. If you find yourself being the most motivated person around you, do what you can to inspire others. You never know whose life you might be able to change for the better.

[Werewolf]

Yes. My mother and father were stuck with two kids (myself and my sister) and struggling to make ends meet ALL the time. Mom was constantly pulling overtime as a waitress, while my dad was a school teacher. They were young, dumb, and in debt due to bad financial choices. Mom went back to school (while still working, she drove an hour to university EVERY day, even got into several accidents because it�s a popular moose road) and after like 4-5 years of law school, my parents finally started coming out ahead in regards to bills. My mother makes ridiculous money now, and we haven�t had to struggle in quite some time.
She is also from a poor, drug dealing family. She had me at 20. She went to university in her early 30s. So yes, I fully believe people can overcome poverty. It�s not easy, but it is possible

[SpaceyGirl]

I was the first in my family to go to university. Again, working my way through. Australia's university debt system is definitely more povvo-friendly than the US one, I acknowledge. I chose a career I enjoy, rather than the most lucrative one. But I am in a position where we are financially comfortable enough to own our home, two cars and have my husband be a stay-at-home dad to our kids. We don't live paycheck to paycheck. We have a strong buffer and make voluntary contributions to my super (like your 401k, I think) to ensure that we'll be well established in retirement. I hear people in my same industry crying poor, but when I hear what they spend their money on, it's no wonder.


Congrats on all your life accomplishments! Did you sister end up following your examples or is she more like your parents, or maybe they all got a bit better with money management?
I was also reading up about Centrelink last week! Just the wiki, but I was wondering if it was easy to acquire than the US's welfare / food stamps, etc. I'm afraid I don't know much about Australia, I wonder how different my life (or the life of my friends still in poverty) would've been if we were in another country. Would it be easier? Or maybe even harder? :O I do spend a lot of my time complaining about US policies, but I haven't researched other countries..



I am a child who grew up in low income family. We are still low income and I just recently graduated. It is definitely tricky with the pandemic, but once I land a job, everything should be smooth sailing. Things should be looking brighter for me as I've had plenty of work experience and an internship before.

Good luck finding a job! Congrats on graduating! Aren't you glad school projects are over? I just woke up from a nightmare about forgetting to do one this morning.. T_T;;



The systems in the U.S. definitely set impoverished people at a disadvantage. I mean, for one, the cost of university tuition is extremely high, and having a network/connections with the right people is hugely helpful towards landing a well-paying job. Impoverished areas also tend to lack some of the resources that the bigger, wealthier cities have -- top hospitals, top universities, top K-12 schools, safe recreation areas for youth, etc. These are all resources that help people make it into university, etc -- for example, a high schooler from a wealthy background would have the free time and resources to be able to (for example) be president/council of a school club; and if they lived in an area with a good local university, they'd to be able to take up an internship in a research lab, and gain valuable experience that would look great on a college application. (Not saying a university education is absolutely necessary for success/escaping poverty at all, but just trying to illustrate an example.)

Yes, I completely agree! One of the blessings I count for myself was that growing up, I was surrounded by families who had essentially has "tiger moms" (Again, Asian community). Pretty much everyone that would talk to me also had parents who said stuff like "if you don't get an A, then you're not my child" so my school district ranked pretty high for test scores. Everyone working hard and "being smart" around me pushed me to try to keep up. If I grew up in a poorer area, I'm not sure I would've tried as hard (even trying, I still only got an average GPA)..



You have to want a better life. I know too many people who have become complacent and don't feel the need to put in the effort. Then they sit back and say things aren't fair - why can't they have this or that like their friends.

I find it works best for me when my backup plans have backup plans just in case I ever find myself in a pinch and need to pull in additional resources.

The motto "work smarter, not harder" has always resonated with me.

However, one lesson learned was to never be satisfied with where you are. Always strive for and want more. I've reached a point in my life where I've achieved many of the personal and professional goals I initially set and I find myself working towards defining new ones. I know there's more room to grow. I'm not in poverty, but I'm not rich. I have a good job, nice house, but I still rely on that next paycheck every other week. It's all a matter of perspective.

I find people who have come from less and have the drive to push further and achieve greater especially inspiring. I think it's possible for anybody to be successful. A big part of it depends on who you surround yourself with. If you find yourself being the most motivated person around you, do what you can to inspire others. You never know whose life you might be able to change for the better.

So many of your words resonated with me! I too have backup for my backups (waitressing for the rest of my life is fine with me; I miss those jobs..xD ), but I also have low expectations and expect things to go wrong pretty much everywhere, even though I've been so lucky in life.

Oh noooooooooooooo, I think I am so content in my current position that I'm no longer looking to move up! Moving up in my career would mean becoming a lead / manager and I just don't think I can do that. Do you think it's okay to find a spot and stay there? xD There's room for me to grow, but I'm not sure I want to be in charge of managing anybody; I like someone telling me exactly what to do.



And maybe all the stories here can help motivate someone else who's feeling down and reading this..
Once someone's been in poverty for so long, it's REALLY hard to feel like you can get out of it. Especially if you've felt you've worked hard your entire life and have nothing to show for it. My mom, for example, she has just about all her stuff paid for by me and .. my father who had some life changing event, cleaned up, and came back into the picture. But she is forever still looking under couches for pennies (not literally) and stressed out about not having enough money even though she doesn't need to pay for anything. I've tried for the past 2 years to convince her everything is going to be fine, but she's still stressed; it's like PTSD from being poor or something; I'm not sure if this can be fixed.. Money cannot buy happiness but the lack of it can totally damage mental health. :(

[I_royalty_I]

So many of your words resonated with me! I too have backup for my backups (waitressing for the rest of my life is fine with me; I miss those jobs..xD ), but I also have low expectations and expect things to go wrong pretty much everywhere, even though I've been so lucky in life.

Oh noooooooooooooo, I think I am so content in my current position that I'm no longer looking to move up! Moving up in my career would mean becoming a lead / manager and I just don't think I can do that. Do you think it's okay to find a spot and stay there? xD There's room for me to grow, but I'm not sure I want to be in charge of managing anybody; I like someone telling me exactly what to do.

Complacency can be a dangerous thing. If you're happy where you are now, then you don't have to take on that next step. There's nothing wrong with being comfortable where you are. BUT, there's also nothing wrong with stepping out of your comfort zone and taking on more responsibilities. Being management is entirely different than non management. YOu never know though... you may enjoy it! If the opportunity is there, I say grab on and take it!

[Zer0]

Good luck finding a job! Congrats on graduating! Aren't you glad school projects are over? I just woke up from a nightmare about forgetting to do one this morning.. T_T;;


Thanks! Yes and no. I definitely have nightmares of school and had the odd dream of being in school again. And as they say there is always an appropriate xkcd so here you go:

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It is nice to have group projects over but you got to realize some of these people also make it out of school as well. Also, I've recently I had a bad issue working with clients.

[Mama Bear]

SpaceyGirl - I'm estranged from my sister now. She finished high school but did not go to uni. No judgement on that, but it does limit your options a bit more, particularly for women who are statistically less represented in trades. Anyway, she became a teen mother. She continued to bludge off my parents for whatever she could, using the new guilt card of her child. With my encouragement, she turned her skill for cake decoration into a small business, but turned into one of those militant vegans and drove away the customers. She became a receptionist for a white collar business and managed to sink her claws into a young, naive (virgin, religious) employee from a well-off family. They got married in Italy, having asked my mother to pay her way there so she could babysit...unsurprisingly, this plan didn't work since mum didn't have the money for it. The Italy thing is another bugbear of mine, as I'd studied the language in university and had a passion for the culture. She did not. But hey, destination wedding on the in-law's dime, so why not steal another part of my dream? They apparently had a kid last year, meaning he's even more trapped with her crazy ass (she used to lecture about over-population and how she'd never have a second child, blah blah blah). She hasn't changed at all. She'd always acted (and spent) as though she were so much better than the rest of us. Marrying up would have just confirmed that for her.

So I guess she managed to get herself out of poverty in the end too, by manipulating a nice guy who deserved better. Definitely not the approach I took, nor one I respect.

[PrettySarcastic]

Sorry for the long intro, I guess the question is just: Do you think it's easy to get out of poverty? Why or why not?
Also, I live in the USA if that changes anything.

Not in the least bit, and your story alone is a perfect example and just one of countless others just like it.

Part of the problem with poverty is that in a huge number of cases, it's more or less designed to be inescapable. It's called the Cycle of Poverty.

Children who grow up in poverty are naturally disadvantaged in both education and skills. Because in a disproportionate number of cases these children are minorities, they'll also face the challenges that come with that. They'll typically live in bad neighborhoods, go to schools which receive less funding, have a parent or parents (or guardian/s) who are either unemployed, or underemployed -- forced to work multiple jobs at low wages to try to make ends meet and keep them out of a situation of homelessness. Their poor education leads to their eventual struggle to get a job, leading them to end up treading the same path as their parents -- raising a child or children in the same impoverished environment and struggling to overcome obstacles throughout their entire lives.

And this is only people who are born into poverty. Anyone could find themselves in poverty through job loss, especially if coupled with medical bills. A tremendous number of people live more or less paycheck to paycheck with very little or absolutely no savings in reserve - losing a job is literally the difference between having a roof over their head and groceries in the fridge, and sleeping in their car.

Is it possible to escape poverty? Absolutely! With dedication and hard work and luck, yes. But I would not agree that anyone can do it. The deck is stacked against a lot of people, minorities, people with disabilities, etc., to exceptional degree. The system is designed to be difficult climb out from.

Since 1948, worker productivity has risen 69%, but overall compensation has only grown by 11.6%.

Federal minimum wage is $7.25/hour - an adult with two children who can only manage a minimum wage job will be thousands of dollars below poverty threshold. If we raised the minimum wage to only $12.00/hour, we could bring 4.5 million people out of poverty. I can't even find a number for what raising it further would do, because I've done so much research for this random post my eyes are tired.

So, I guess I return to a couple sentences ago. Yes, it's possible -- but no, it is not easy, not everyone can do it. The ones who do are the hardest working, the most dedicated and stubborn, and I clearly see examples of us here. :) (Did you also put plastic sheeting & duct tape over your trailer windows? Just wondering.)

Thanks for enduring my disorganized ramblings, if you did.


Some poverty facts (for the US):
----> "Poverty" means a single person had an income at or under just $13,011 per year -- for couples, families, etc., check the table below. It's very enlightening.
* In 2019, 10.5% of the US population lived in poverty - about 34 million people.
* 5.3% of the population�or 17.3 million people�live in deep poverty - that means their incomes are below 50% of the poverty threshold -- so less than half of the number in the table.
* 29.9% of the population� or 93.6 million� live close to poverty, with incomes less than two times that of their poverty thresholds.
----> Isn't that interesting, and also terrifying? Doubling the poverty threshold is still considered close to poverty.
* In 2017, 26% of disabled people were living in poverty
* In 2017, 11.6% of people 80 years of age or older lived in poverty
* 11.1% of households were food insecure in 2018 - this means more than 14 million households had difficulty providing enough food for their members due to a lack of resources.
* Any given night, more than half a million people are homeless; about 20% of that number represents children under the age of 18



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Sources (go learn you some stuff):
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[Only registered and activated users can see links] ndTheEconomy-FINAL.pdf

[jellybelly]

This is a great discussion! You should be really proud of what you've achieved so far! It definitely is hard work and perseverance. Well done. :)

Excuse all the grammatical errors and other mistakes!

I would say, no it definitely is not easy to get out of poverty, especially if you are born into it. Yes too, if you work hard, but sometimes working hard to remove yourself out of poverty/'that life' is something people in poverty can't afford to think about; I think their main thoughts are just living day to day; finding food and surviving.

I think the cause of poverty in certain countries is definitely not always that persons fault, it is a multitude of things including family, beliefs, background, government/overall management of the country they are residing in. I think it's much harder to get out of poverty if you were born into it/don't know anything better and just aim to survive by finding work if they are able to, food and shelter. Generational poverty is difficult as the children learn what the parents learn and from there it is passed down and down.

I remember watching a YouTuber who, from time to time visits families and people in poverty. Sometimes he just brings a long small gifts for the family such as food and snacks they probably haven't tried and very large bags of rice. Other times the person has rented a street food vendor so he could give the neighbourhood kids living in the slums some street food snacks. Another video he helped one family build a basic house so they could have a proper roof over their head. The YouTuber received many hate comments and questions on his videos such as, 'Doing this won't get them out of poverty...why don't you xxxxx (suggesting something else)?', 'Why do you always help the same people??', 'Why are you helping these people??? Why don't you help the people back in your home country?' etc.

The YouTuber said he knows he can't help everyone and that he is just one person. He also knows the things he does won't really directly help them escape poverty but he just wanted them to feel happy, give them some encouragement for their goals in life and hope when they grow up they can be good people who think about others as well (as there are many people in poverty often resort to more criminal activities). He occasionally teaches them little things like remembering to put your rubbish in one place/a bin as the kids would just throw rubbish anywhere, like there would be rubbish everywhere on the ground (rubbish bins don't exist, there is no proper waste system. anywhere is a rubbish bin lol) as they weren't taught it. The YouTuber asked where one of the girls wanted to go when the restrictions ease so he could take the kids out on a small trip, she said with excitement, "I really want to go to the big shopping mall!".

One time he purchased a portable gas stove for the family but the mother has still never used it and still prefers to light a fire outside with the sticks as she wants to 'save the gas' even though it will be much more convenient although a bit more costly. The mother had to borrow some money from the neighbours so she could buy 3 kilos of rice (for a family of 2 adults and 5 kids). She was so overjoyed when the YouTuber told her he brought a big sack of rice in his car for her, "Oh thank you so so much, we were nearly out of rice. I had to borrow some money from the lady next door to buy 3 kilos." This brings me onto generational poverty, if you grew up in these conditions and your parents and parent's parents grew up in these same conditions it is really hard to break out of it. You'll want to save everything and don't want to waste anything.

Beliefs also come into play, for example some countries have very strict laws on abortion and contraception. There is a lack of sex education in schools already. No sex education for people in poverty. Due to this, there are too many young mothers (shy of teens) who are already in poverty themselves but now have to raise children.

I read a story on teen mums not too long ago, girls then now mothers didn't even know they could get pregnant. I also read one man in the story made his 'mark' by impregnating the female so no one else would court her, to quote, "He really wanted a baby, so no one else could court me." A sense of ownership, stemming from a countries certain beliefs and history. Speaking about sex or using words that could be related to sex was something laughable/a joke (I suppose similar to how western children think of the term, "cooties") and sex is something that is not to be seriously spoken of).

It just made me realise these families don't have time to do anything other than to try and live and care for their kids. These mothers spoke about how they too, had goals in life such as finishing school and becoming a police offer but now they have responsibilities of caring for children instead. Of course they love their children (these children are not at fault too) but cannot deny it is a challenge.

Just thinking about how they could get out of poverty seemed likely impossible and just a dream they can't afford : (.

Soo...lack of contraception, no education and abortion being illegal = more children that need to be looked after by people who can't even afford and care for themselves yet = continual cycle of poverty.

Then if you have a country who's government isn't doing much to combat the issue of poverty....it really is difficult. Instead of caring for their nation as a whole so it can thrive and therefore overall make the country richer (long term), they just become corrupt and selfish (short term). :(

So in my opinion, in this case it lies on the country itself and if the management of the country was improved in areas such as general education, sex education including contraception and abortion, decent shelter and services that could assist people with this it will be one step forward to reducing the percentage of poverty. If I were in this situation and trying to get out of poverty completely on my own it would be very very difficult and I would definitely need help.

If you were interested in reading that story it is here: [Only registered and activated users can see links]
It was a good read and the photographs were taken by one of my fav photographers haha :)

[Synth Salazzle]

I would say no, it is not easy. I never got out of poverty, my family's still in it and so am I. Anyone who gets out of it is either super lucky, or super skilled in the path they took in life, and even then it's a bit down to luck when it comes down to getting a job in your field. And even worse if you have educational debt.

My dad and I are both disabled. he finally got his disability benefits so we're surviving now, I'm still fighting for mine. I don't think I'll ever get out of poverty but I think one day I'll be just above the line and can live at least somewhat comfortably without worrying. Things are better though, I got my first smart phone last year and I still have it. Can't pay the bill on it but I do have a phone now when I didn't used to.

I'm also out of medical debt which is another boost to my life.

[BowerZ]

With the internet i Would say it would be 110% possible.

There are soo many oppertunities with having web access that with a little hard work and dedication you can really earn some proper cash!

[AyBeCee]

Not easy at all. It's a relentless cycle. I worked in a psychiatric facility for a few months and it fucking broke my heart to hear stories of people who grew up with poor socioeconomic backgrounds and how disadvantaged they were. With the cards they're dealt with, it's so hard to get out of the poverty cycle. With that said, it is possible, just ridiculously difficult.

[Digipoop]

SpaceyGirl - I'm estranged from my sister now. She finished high school but did not go to uni. No judgement on that, but it does limit your options a bit more, particularly for women who are statistically less represented in trades. Anyway, she became a teen mother. She continued to bludge off my parents for whatever she could, using the new guilt card of her child. With my encouragement, she turned her skill for cake decoration into a small business, but turned into one of those militant vegans and drove away the customers. She became a receptionist for a white collar business and managed to sink her claws into a young, naive (virgin, religious) employee from a well-off family. They got married in Italy, having asked my mother to pay her way there so she could babysit...unsurprisingly, this plan didn't work since mum didn't have the money for it. The Italy thing is another bugbear of mine, as I'd studied the language in university and had a passion for the culture. She did not. But hey, destination wedding on the in-law's dime, so why not steal another part of my dream? They apparently had a kid last year, meaning he's even more trapped with her crazy ass (she used to lecture about over-population and how she'd never have a second child, blah blah blah). She hasn't changed at all. She'd always acted (and spent) as though she were so much better than the rest of us. Marrying up would have just confirmed that for her.

So I guess she managed to get herself out of poverty in the end too, by manipulating a nice guy who deserved better. Definitely not the approach I took, nor one I respect.

Just want to say that I sincerely hope for your Italy wish to come true.

[Nightingale]

I was born well below the poverty line to two disabled parents who couldn't work (or drive for that matter). They were homeless before they had me. I grew up considering anything beyond basic cable a luxury. Internet we were lucky to have for ~2 years before our ISP screwed us, which was how I got introduced to Neopets, but up until about age 12 that was a luxury too.

Now I'm in my mid 20s. One of my parents passed on, another is in long term care, and I'm STILL getting out of it. I'm making 12k a year doing part time work, on top of school, on top of managing care for the aforementioned family member, on top of being $20,000 in debt because of school thanks to... *checks notepad* being born to parents who couldn't afford a college fund. Anyone who says I need to "just work harder uwu" is seriously out of touch--hell, I worked all Sunday night, stayed up the following Monday to hand in an assignment, went to sleep at 11pm that day for ~7 hours, and woke up bright and early to do more chores. All I DO is work at this point!

I have a good GPA that's going to take a beating this semester due to a family emergency, so I'm hoping I'll still be hireable by the time I do graduate. By then I'll make $30,000 a year in an entry level position in a field I'm good at, which by my standards may as well be living like a king. Can I get out of it? Yes. Is it easy? No. Absolutely not!

[Crow]

Absolutely not. At least, not in my experience.

My parents were super loaded when I was born and in my childhood. They lost all their money when I was about 10 or so, and they've been struggling ever since. I, however, had about $2,000 in my savings when I first attended college--money saved up from various gifts throughout the years, especially from my high school graduation gifts. I ended up spending most of that when I studied abroad and to pay for college classes (because I was behind in credits). I always figured that when I graduated, I'd just get myself a job, save a bit, then travel and start living my actual life.

I was super fucking wrong. As of 2016, I've never had more than $5 in my savings account. I have always lived paycheck to paycheck. I have not traveled (excluding cheap Spirit plane tickets to visit home for 5 days max), nor have I ever found a job that could make living easier. My college degree, great resume (I've got tons of reviews on it from former employers, mentors, and peers), cover letters, and solid work ethic has not helped me land a job that pays enough to live comfortably. Safe to say, I've been pretty miserable for most of my adult life. Due to my financial problems, I have had serious mental and physical issues in the past, and to be frank I'm lucky I'm still here right now.

Is it easy to get out of poverty? Not at all in my experience. Can it be done? I wholeheartedly believe so, yes. I always knew if I just settled for a higher-paying job that I knew I'd loathe, my life could improve. But I couldn't do that. I'd rather be poor and happy with the majority of my life, then have money and loathe my entire existence, feeling stuck and pointless. There's lots of more low and morally wrong venues I also could've taken if I really wanted to escape poverty. But again, couldn't live with myself if I did those things.

I'm finally turning things around before hitting my 30s. I've chosen to join the military. Not for financial reasons, actually, but because of an inner strive to be and do better (and because I really love my country and want to show some patriotism). However, the pay and sign-on bonus I'm getting are definitely a nice little boost for me. It'll be the first time in my life I'll actually have some relative amount of money so that I'm not panicking every second wondering if I'll be able to pay for groceries next week (aka whether or not I'll get to eat). I also came to this decision because I realized that the main thing I want in my life is to own my own house and have a little land. I can't do that with how I've been living the last 4 years. So it's time for this change and push.

All I'd say for those struggling to get out of poverty is do what's best for you. Figure out your main goal and work your hardest to get yourself there. As long as you can accept your path to get there, then go for it. Don't give a damn about what others may think or say about you. This is YOUR life and you have got to OWN IT.

[Huntera]

I think it REALLY REALLY depends on the circumstances you were born in (even in the case of poverty). But hard work definitely helps.

That being said, my parents got out of what people would consider poverty or even extreme poverty.

They were both born in villages in rural China where nobody ever progressed beyond elementary school. Nearly everyone there was a farmer or something similar. This was after Communist China had just ended, so things were slowly picking back up in terms of education.

They worked really hard to go through elementary school and to get into highschool. I remember my dad said his parents would often take his homework and use it to line the henhouse or something, throw it in the chicken pen basically. My mom wanted to read books but had little money and there weren't many books around, so she'd read whatever she could. She would go to the roadside stand where they sold books or magazines and try reading them, even if the person selling them made her leave most of the time because she wouldn't buy anything.

I can't recall if they had to go to middle school but I do remember they had to work on entrance exams to get into highschool. After that, they had to live at school and work extra hard to get into university, with more entrance exams. They were both the only people to get into university from either village they were from, so it was already a pretty big achievement. Then my dad went further with his education and eventually applied to study here in Canada. He came to Canada with $300 bucks basically, that was it, and worked his way to get my mom and brother to join him here. They lived in poverty for many years, then he ended up doing really well.

So I wouldn't say it's easy but it's POSSIBLE with hard work and dedication. Every time I slack off I kinda feel crappy because I think about how hard my parents worked and how I don't live up to that at times...

[aitooh]

Wow, so many interesting stories in this thread.

While my parents have always been lower middle class, they've always had this belief that money shouldn't be saved or invested over the long term, because the government or the next crisis will wipe away your savings. So whenever they earned more than expected, they bought an expensive holiday or item.
I was raised to believe the same things, but never quite trusted that sort of mentality. I hated when we got an expensive new gadget rather than saving the extra money.

Then, around 2009, I was looking for my first job. There were practically no jobs then in my city, so I looked for around 9 months, then got a shitty low-paid part-time position and felt fortunate. That last winter before I got a job, I couldn't afford heating my rented room. I used to notice my arms and legs all blue in the mornings and wonder what could happen to them if it got even colder. I could've asked for a loan that winter, but it was the last thing I wanted to do. I ate the cheapest stuff just to keep myself going. I remember telling my mom I'd find a good job eventually and her doubting it.

5 jobs later, I'm doing well, but I can never allow myself to spend money on anything besides bills, groceries and gifts for friends and family. It always feels as if my good fortune can't last and I'll go back to barely affording to live.

Nonetheless, I've rarely ever felt poor. People in my part of the world usually think of poverty as being in debt, which I've almost always avoided.

So no, it's not easy getting out of poverty, and most of all it's horribly difficult believing you can get out, when your family and everyone around believes differently or doesn't see the point of saving and investing.

[Cookie Tray]

No. I've been working straight out of high school and am still living paycheck to paycheck. I just lost my last job thanks to the company downsizing. I've been a manager, a consultant, and a contractor and none of these things has improved my finances. The one thing that keeps me afloat is my partner coming from an upper middle class family. They have a good college education and secure job. Their parents have given them thousands for a car, and have offered the same for our future house. I would be homeless, despite the long hours I've worked over the last ten years, if I did not marry somebody who did not grow up in poverty like I did. Generational wealth sure makes a huge freaking difference, and the only "easy" way out of poverty is to luck out and marry "up."

[Dirtylittleliar]

It feels impossible unless you marry rich.


Honestly at this point I've just decided if nothing changes by the time I'm forty or something I'm just going to kill myself.
Deep in the generational poverty here. Not to mention getting my back and neck hurt pretty bad in a car wreck last year that's cost me about a inch of height and giving me cervical kyphosis. (I wasn't even the one driving I'm completely non-at-fault)

Which means my neck has lost it's natural curve and pops and cracks all the time and I have problems controlling my right arm and some times my right leg just..drags instead of lifting up when I take a step. I don't have insurance, and can't afford to get a MRI done to see what all damage was done to my muscular system. The low income health clinic I went to was also useless and that doctor was convinced he could fix it with PT.

well, not even fix my neck. But fix my lose socketed joints.


which aren't even the problem. The spinal compression and nerve damage is.


I can't work because I can barely function. I had to switch from being right handed to left handed because of deterioration in fine motor skills with my right arm and using it for any length of time triggers extreme nerve pain and my fingers lock up.

But nobody's willing to help me go for disability either.

The entire thing is a joke. WTF am I supposed to do to have any standard of living? I can barely walk and do you have any idea how difficult cooking with your non dominant hand is?

[Neo1337]

It feels impossible unless you marry rich.


Honestly at this point I've just decided if nothing changes by the time I'm forty or something I'm just going to kill myself.
Deep in the generational poverty here. Not to mention getting my back and neck hurt pretty bad in a car wreck last year that's cost me about a inch of height and giving me cervical kyphosis. (I wasn't even the one driving I'm completely non-at-fault)

Which means my neck has lost it's natural curve and pops and cracks all the time and I have problems controlling my right arm and some times my right leg just..drags instead of lifting up when I take a step. I don't have insurance, and can't afford to get a MRI done to see what all damage was done to my muscular system. The low income health clinic I went to was also useless and that doctor was convinced he could fix it with PT.

well, not even fix my neck. But fix my lose socketed joints.


which aren't even the problem. The spinal compression and nerve damage is.


I can't work because I can barely function. I had to switch from being right handed to left handed because of deterioration in fine motor skills with my right arm and using it for any length of time triggers extreme nerve pain and my fingers lock up.

But nobody's willing to help me go for disability either.

The entire thing is a joke. WTF am I supposed to do to have any standard of living? I can barely walk and do you have any idea how difficult cooking with your non dominant hand is?

Please don't give up. I don't know how the healthcare system works where you are (or even where you live), but please don't give up!

[empmirage]

Wow, post is inspiring. I think it really depends on the person. I think how easy it is boils down to a couple factors. I think it's a lot easier for an extrovert to escape poverty because they are more likely to roll the dice and are more likely to develop connections. The other factor that helps a ton is confidence. In short, I think anyone can do it but--it's impossible to do it if you don't put yourself out there/believe in yourself.

[fairyfloss]

I'd like to think I made it out of poverty. I admit, I only lived in 1st world poverty for 2 years. When I mean poverty, I mean that I knew we had no money for extras, as in school trips or fancy clothes. Ate from school a lot to save money. Bought all clothes secondhand. No internet or cable. If it wasnt for my grandmother we wouldv'e been couch surfing. We all slept together (my siblings and I) in 1 room and it had mold.

My mom has been remarried twice and had to deal with a lot of fallout because of that. Despite being a college educated RPN she still lost her house and had to move in with grandma to prevent her and my siblings from becoming homeless. We ate from food banks a lot, and out christmas presents that year all came from charity. I was just happy my mom was able to relax.

My mother was born in a 3rd world country and immigrated to Canada in her teens. She understood the value of education, hard. And what she calls "working the system."

When she means that, she means getting a job with security in mind. She always encouraged me to work for the county/municipality. It's because here, if you work for an organization like that, the pay, schedule and benefits are way better. And iv'e been working for the county since I was 21. Best choice I made. Only way to make $20+ an hour with benefits, with a high school diploma.

[Why So Serious?]

In the country where I live, no!
I live in Brazil and here entrepreneurs are seen as villains. The government detests a competitor. There are high fees for starting a company and keeping an employee under the CLT regime (which entitles workers to work). Assuming the salary of an employee is 3 thousand reais - BRL (our currency), you will pay more or less 7 thousand BRL. It is very difficult, there is very little incentive for the small-medium entrepreneur. Our currency today is very devalued compared to the dollar, 1 BRL = 0.19 cents USD. A popular car in Brazil (without air conditioning) is costing an average of 36 thousand BRL. Our minimum wage is 1.1k BRL. A rent is no less than 500 BRL (almost a half the minimum wage).
In Brazil you don't live, you survive.

[Hare]

My partner and I live off one income -- his. I'm physically and mentally disabled and unable to work (though I'm starting physical therapy! so I might be able to work again in some months!). We rent an apartment in which I've lived for over a decade now, first with my grandmother, then a roommate, then my partner.

We've struggled a lot over the years. He barely gets any increasing wages over the course of most of a decade. He's struggled with the horrific public transit here, and only recently with stimulus were we able to afford personal transportation--an electric kick scooter. I can't work, though I'm trying with my therapy to change that.

Honestly, the stimulus has helped us a lot, but we've largely been stuck in a rut. Getting the funds for additional opportunities or aid is extremely daunting.

I think we're ultimately doing...pretty decently, with the cards we've been dealt (between us, we're both mentally disabled/stupid, and neither of us is fully physically 100%) but damn do I feel depressed whenever I see how the middle class and above have it, shit. But I know...we could be doing so, so much worse. Homeless, addicted, etc. So...I have to be grateful, maybe proud, of managing this despite the odds. But damn, knowing how others have is so much better stings, still. And we bust our asses--even though I cannot work, I do bust my ass as much as I can, still.

Bluh.

[Unlucky]

I don't think it is easy.
My mom married "up". She never finished middle school, nor did her siblings. She worked low paying jobs (such as in shoe shops, clothing shops, etc.) until she met my dad.

My mom's two brothers immigrated abroad illegally in their late teens; that was in the 1990s. One of them unfortunately became addicted to drugs and has since returned to our country and has done a lot of wrong things over the years...
The other one managed to save up some money over the years, even though he's always had low paying jobs too (truck driver, carpenter, uber driver, etc.) and eventually managed to get dual citizenship; he now goes back and forth between the two countries, and he's currently investing in our native country so that he's able to come back and live here permanently with a stable income; it took him 20+ years to be able to do that, he's definitely still not rich but doing better.

There has been so much all of them have gone through. I remember my mom telling me she once had to give away her dog when she was a child because they couldn't even eat themselves, so how would they feed the dog?

Generational poverty is complicated. Most of my mom's side of the family is still more on the poor side, but nowadays everyone has enough to have comfortable lives I'd say.

[Cookie Tray]

No. I've been working straight out of high school and am still living paycheck to paycheck. I just lost my last job thanks to the company downsizing. I've been a manager, a consultant, and a contractor and none of these things has improved my finances. The one thing that keeps me afloat is my partner coming from an upper middle class family. They have a good college education and secure job. Their parents have given them thousands for a car, and have offered the same for our future house. I would be homeless, despite the long hours I've worked over the last ten years, if I did not marry somebody who did not grow up in poverty like I did. Generational wealth sure makes a huge freaking difference, and the only "easy" way out of poverty is to luck out and marry "up."

I wanted to post an update to this with a little bit of backstory. My immigrant mom raised half a dozen kids as a single mother, cleaning houses for money. We grew up in somewhat extreme poverty. We were able to afford a cheap rent due to the landlord being a friend of my mom. The only reason we were able to eat was because of donations from friends, family, and the church my mom attended. We were raised community-style with about 5 other families, visiting each other often and being toted from home to home. Despite the poverty we enjoyed our childhoods, and were happy and relatively healthy besides being underweight/malnutrition. We always lived paycheck to paycheck, and relied heavily on our awesome community.

As an adult, I no longer had access to that community. I worked making (slightly) above minimum wage for years 10 years, and still lived paycheck to paycheck. I couldn't afford to go to school, and I can't drive, so the jobs I had access to were limited and low-paying. I had been applying for YEARS for a credit card and had no luck. The only option for Americans without existing credit (and don't have parents with wealth to co-sign anything) is to do a sort of deposit-based credit card, where you pay $400-$600 for a card with that same limit. You don't get that deposit back until a year or two into owning the card, or sometimes until you close the account. I could never afford that. When I moved in with my partner, they added me to their credit card so I could build credit. After 2 years, I had amazing credit and it was 100% thanks to my partner's credit. I haven't been living in poverty since 2018 as a result. My mental health vastly improved, and I gained enough weight to make me look healthy.

This month, I got very lucky with networking - I got a job that pays twice what I used to make. We've been looking to buy a house this summer, which we can afford thanks to my partner's job and their parents' wealth (as they offered to pay part of a down payment for us). It is through extreme luck and my partner's generational wealth that I've been living a lot more comfortably in the past few years than I ever have, and am actually becoming middle class. I've been able to send monthly donations to friends & family as well as strangers online with what we make, because it is very important to me to help community members in need.

As for the rest of my family: one sister got a decent paying job and was able to afford school and graduated last year. She got married, and was living humbly until she got in a car accident. She got a payout from that due to the health issues it created, and was able to further her education as a result. It was mostly a LOT of hard work + circumstance that led her to being able to live comfortably.

Some of my brothers work together and are still living paycheck to paycheck. Any money that was saved over the past 3 years of working, was spent instantly when one of my brothers had a much-needed surgery. It cost him $3000 out of pocket because his insurance didn't cover any of it. He's still paying that off.

Another brother only recently got a state-issued ID and opened his first bank account in his 20s. We were all born here and are citizens but getting legal identification is still difficult in the US if you don't have parents who know how to understand the paperwork, etc.

Yet another brother of mine got a job years ago thanks to networking, and that job paid for 2 years of college for him. He never graduated, but the education on his resume allowed him to move up in his workplace and he's now making $70k a year. He's still living paycheck to paycheck, because the area he lives in for his job is expensive ($23k a year for rent alone). He is living somewhat comfortably besides not having savings. He's recently admitted he is not eating well or saving anything, so I have offered to help him out if he ever needs it.

My mom works 70+ hours a week for millionaires. Her health is declining, but she refuses to work less because she gets paid well for working longer hours. Her bosses still take advantage of her and will not report her on their taxes, despite being literal millionaires. She moved in with a family member, so she doesn't have to pay rent. My sister helped her buy the first car she ever owned in her name. She's been able to travel (before COVID and a little bit after vaccination) thanks to the better pay. Her credit is still trashed due to her ex, but she no longer worries about not being able to eat or feed her kids. She does still live paycheck to paycheck, especially when her clients are on vacation and she is without pay.

[phantasia]

NO its not easy at all. That is my short answer.

I live in South Africa. Ok just the first thing is in essence I dont regard myself as poor. My parents are well off so I live with them. I am not in complete poverty but I also cant get out and live on my own. I have multiple cronic conditions and they also pay for my medical aid.

Here is some reason I feel its hard to get out of poverty.

Housing - If you are poor you tend to Rent which means some rich person owns the house so because you don't earn enough you cant get a loan from the bank so essentially now your paying someone else's house. And yes this one can be solved by having a great job that pays enough so you can get a loan.

Medical - As soon as your sick it's pretty impossible to get out of poverty. If you use state facilities you never really get good care because in South Africa state medical care is horrible. So you will always feel sick and probably not be able to work as hard as you would need to to get out of poverty. If you do work hard and manage to pay medical aid... that make it also hard to get out of poverty to just put some light on this my mom pays 1/3 of her salary to medical aid. Its ridiculous expensive.

Education - This is one of the biggest problems and not at the university level at a basic level. Schools here are not on the same level. Schools in lower-income areas has like low matric pass rates I mean 2% while rich areas has 98-100% pass rates. All writing the same final exam. Yes there are people that get out of this situation and preform amazing in even a bad school but its hard. Living in a low income area being in a bad school is not the only reason you wont get high enough marks. Even if you were in a better school the home enviroment would be so hard. Some people in poverty litterly have 1 room houses and then like 5 people live and sleep in there. I just dont know how you get out of that.

Family obligations - ook so lets say you are lucky you get out of poverty. Will you be able to leave your family behind? I wont. SO now you are the only sucessful person in your family earning a sallary, now your looking after all of your family mom dad, sisterm, uncle.. trying to uplift everyone. Money can only go so far so now someone that would have been upper class has to stay lower middle class. They have children that go to mediocre schools again and the cycle keeps going.

So to get out of poverty is VERY VERY HARD!

[morecoffeepls]

Another perspective....

Getting out of poverty is very-very-very hard.

In general, being situated in the lower income brackets means you are subjected more unique financial decisions. For instance having a savings or investment account - usually not possible. Purchasing items that are overall lower cost/per - usually not possible. Simply put, being in poverty is VERY expensive and takes a long time to change.

A lot of other posters highlighted great points and I wouldn't want to rehash the same point over and over.

From my personal perspective, my family was quite lower income for a long time. Moving out of the situation took a few generations to move clusters into middle/upper class. My brain gets depressed(is that the word?) when I think of how much of my parents/grandparents/great-etc LIFE was sacrificed to better future generations. I'm eternally grateful for it.

[cherub]

It's not easy at all, imo.
I actually think luck (or perhaps determination?) plays a big factor.


I was a teenage accident between my **infertile** Mum and Dad; they decided to keep me as I was a 'miracle' baby - they were both pretty average in school, Mum had dreams of being a chef and Dad was in his first year of University studying to be an accountant. They eventually split up when I was 2 years old and I was raised by my single mum on a chefs salary of about 35k NZD (24k USD ish) - we lived next door to what I now as an adult realise was a mob on the left side and a brothel on the right*. I spent school holidays at my Mums work (she achieved her dream of being a chef, even whilst raising a little one on her own!) to a younger me, this was awesome! I got to eat restaurant food for every lunch and watch tv, colour in and have fun. As an adult I realise me and Mum never went on any holidays, and Mum had to work most Christmases but would ALWAYS take my Birthday off. I wore a lot of hand-me-downs. I was excited when we went to the second hand shop and I found a top under $5 dollars because that meant I found a good deal. Mum tried her best to buy me toys and I loved these little magazines with the quizzes in them so she'd save so I could have them at the shops. Because she was a chef we could often steal butter/cheese/milk from work.

When I was 11, Dad decided to try come back into my life. He told my Mum he was going to take her to court for custody. I remember being 11 years old on a Saturday and playing soccer - looking over and seeing my Mum trying not to cry on the sidelines over the phone. She was terrified that because he earnt so much that she was going to lose custody. I was NOT neglected at all. I absolutely loved my childhood. But there's no doubt we were poor.

My parents worked it out thankfully, but I feel like an outsider view might not know about these fears (having your child taken away)

I went to a decent FREE public high school, the one my Mum and Dad went to - Mum got to pay less because she went there. I never got to do any of the trips or anything but I passed everything with flying stars and was one of those kids who didn't have to try because the testing system worked well for me (luck). Got a scholarship to study Law (luck & determination), went one year and decided it wasn't for me (stupidity). So I looked for work whilst I was figuring out who I want to be. Landed my first job in sales working for 19 an hour (determination). 2 years later, I quit. It was a horrible work environment - I was living paycheck to paycheck, (hell, I often spent more on my cat than myself because I *chose* to own a cat and she deserved a good life) but 2 years in sales looks great on a resume. I uplifted my life and moved to Australia where I work in sales again, but for 29 an hour - which works out to be double what my Mum earnt. Mum looks after my cat and I send her like... cat child support lol.

I'm still floating now with no real clue what I want to do but I'm very comfortable. I bought the new apple watch last week just because I wanted to and I could comfortably.
I can afford to go away on weekends, I can afford to have the nice dinners if I feel like it.

I'm not rich by any means, but I'm comfortable enough to say I escaped poverty through a chain of luck and determination.


Sorry for rambling :$


* I'm actually really thankful for this experience though, they were absolutely lovely people and I enjoyed my childhood and growing up there - it has taught me a lot of respect.

[NeopetLandy]

I’m just thankful to read so many inspiring stories here. It is pretty difficult to move out of poverty once you’re in it. While people like to believe a large part of their success is due to their own hard work, it’s actually much more related to the circumstances you’re born into.

I’m not sure if we can share an external link here but this cartoon simplified the points very well.

[Only registered and activated users can see links]

Please remove my post if this isn’t allowed. Thanks.

[SpaceyGirl]

I’m just thankful to read so many inspiring stories here. It is pretty difficult to move out of poverty once you’re in it. While people like to believe a large part of their success is due to their own hard work, it’s actually much more related to the circumstances you’re born into.

I’m not sure if we can share an external link here but this cartoon simplified the points very well.

[Only registered and activated users can see links]

Please remove my post if this isn’t allowed. Thanks.

I remember seeing this years ago and I connected with it so well! I still see it every so often and it's definitely still relevant. I remember in high school, all my friends had tutors for the SAT/ACTs or whatever and I was like, "Whaaa, people get tutors for those?!" Even today, the friend's brother who made the comment that got me to start this thread, the one who said anyone could get out of poverty if they worked hard, as he's staying for free at his parents house after taking an extra year of college that his parents paid for, and then "soul searching" to figure out what he wants to do career-wise, all still on his parents dime. He has a job now but goddamn, he would not have been able to have so much free time looking for options if his parents didn't pay for his living expenses! :deli:

[NeopetLandy]

I feel that sometimes it’s not even physical, it’s mental. Even if rich kids and poor kids have had the same amount of time in college, poor kids who bear the burden of student loans will still feel a lot more stressed out. We all need mental capacity to deal with uncertainty in the future; having a loan to repay once they graduate will just consume that much more energy.

I was lucky enough that my parents could afford my tuition fees but my college life was largely simple, I didn’t have extra money for extras. I felt ostracised sometimes because I couldn’t afford to join certain activities. This might seem normal but money buys exposure and spending opens up doors in social circles.

I’m not saying all these with angst but to remind people that the odds are truly against the poorer people and luck plays a big part in this. I don’t think wealth can ever be even out, it’s probably going to deliver more disaster than good to forcefully redistribute wealth. What people could at least do is acknowledge that it’s more difficult than the society on average would like to think.

[Freeloaders_Soceity]

Many Thanks to all who shared their stories. Many of you have had some really bad experiences. Life leads us down many pathways and unfortunately poverty is the roughest. Let me share my story with you. I was born six months after WWII ended. My Mama (no father) and I lived in a small Southern Colorado town until my Mama was able to move to Denver as a housekeeper for a single parent who offered Mama a job with room and board for both of us. Poverty? Yes, but with lots of love and a gentle hand Mama taught me that what became of me was my responsibility. So I took the easy way out. I married at 17 to a Military member and together we did the best we could on what little Uncle Sam gave us. When he retired from the Military, he took a civilian job that paid him three fold what his Mil Pay had been. We were still poor yes. But it wasn't until I lost my Husband of 55 years that I realized how rich I was. He left me with three beautiful kids, five grandkids and three great grandkids. Upon his Death I learned just how financially well off he left me. And I laugh a lot when I think back about how much we wanted that we could never afford because Papa was too "busy saving for a rainy day"!

Now you question was "is it easy to get out of poverty?" No Sweetie it isn't. But the experiences you have and the lessons you learn from them can make up for so much loss. I hope you found happiness, contentment and yes, even wealth. My life's time frame covers years that most of you were not around for. I'm 75 years old.

[Artenio]

Simple? Yes. Easy? Definitely not.

While it's true that, unfortunately, this isn't the 1950's anymore where a minimum wage job could support a family of 4, there are WAY more opportunities now than there ever have been to make money. This is mostly due to the fact that we are all connected now (thanks to the internet).

Luck aside, which could change anybody's life situation, getting out of poverty really does come down to hard work. You have to educate yourself since you most likely won't be able to afford to attend school, which means you have to have the willpower to remain consistent even though life sucks right now and studying is hard. You have to learn to see opportunities when they arise and not hesitate too long or you might miss them. You have to work your ass off every day because no one is coming to save you, it's all up to you.

Assuming you've got yourself cleaned up and can land yourself a minimum wage job, it really isn't that difficult to get out of poverty. All it takes is time and consistency.

Manage your lifestyle to where whatever bills you have and all your necessities don't exceed your monthly income. Entertainment and luxuries will have to be put aside for quite some time, but if you're impoverished those things shouldn't be your priorities right now anyway. Whatever money you have left over should go into investments. All of it. Spread it out amongst stocks and APY-yielding cryptocurrencies. Once your stock portfolio builds up enough over time, you'll have enough shares to where you can sell covered calls each week/month to make additional income (this is basically a method to make your own dividends on non-dividend yielding securities).

During this time, you could also be doing odd jobs here and there, either in person or on the computer. There are lots of people out there who need lots of help with an endless myriad of things. You could also be teaching yourself a skill or trade, which in the future could land you an even better paying job.

After however many years it takes, your investment portfolio will become your main source of passive income through dividends, APY on holdings, and selling covered calls. You could also make it your main source of active income in a shorter time period via day trading or swing trading, but that will require lots of studying and practice. Either way, in a few years you will have successfully escaped poverty.

Assuming of course you don't gamble all your hard-earned money away trying to get rich quick in the stock market ;)

[omegalul]

getting out of poverty definitely is not easy, but it's not impossible as well. if you're stuck in a situation with dependents I think it's definitely a rough climb, I think most people fall under this category and they aren't able to climb out of it because even if they save, life is unexpected especially when you have to worry about others. it's probably not possible if you're in this category as you would have to be extremely lucky or stall until your dependents hit lategame and are able to contribute themselves.

however if you're single or partnered with someone that shares the level same financial responsibility as you do, then you definitely can work your way out and find a comfortable spot for yourself. being rich however is a matter of luck. most people, myself included, wont ever be rich and just dream about it. your lifespan is finite and there's only so much side hustling/overtime/etc that you can do. but comfortable? anyone can be comfortable if you put in the work. I've done 60 hour work weeks for years in order to scrounge by and save what I could. i felt like my body was breaking down but I pushed through. put in the work, watched videos, became financially literate, got educated, got a promotion bc of my hard work and dedication, now I'm comfortably supervising doing significantly less work than I used to.

[Kaizer]

Things are very different now, than it is 5 years ago, 10 years ago... I remember a totally different world 20 years ago.
Those were the days where if you own a phone, you're the coolest richest kid. If you owned a computer, you would pretty much be the only one who does so in the entire school... etc.
For someone who never been in poverty, they would never understand the situation of actually being poor.
Now, the richer has become even richer, and the poorer, just stayed poor. The cost of living has gone up infinitely.
Life used to be one breadwinner, a housewife/househusband, and kids, pets, buying homes etc.
Now life is difficult with both spouses needing to be working hard, education costs hundreds of thousands, and houses be paid in installments.

So no, it is not easy to escape poverty. There are people who are constantly trying to make ends meet, but their income is constantly dwarfed by the expenses.
It is crazy whenever I hear people calculate their accounts, and they seem to always owe more money than they make. Is it truly worth it? Borrowing money to study, and work the rest of your life to pay back those loans? And once that is paid off, continue working to pay off debts like mortgage and credit card bills...
Its no wonder some people get tired of it all and give up...

[Chupacabra]

Hmmm I've always wondered this. IRL all my friends decided to go and do drugs and go to jail and just not do good in life. I just say my friends when really its the whole damn county and beyond. I always wondered why didnt I do drugs or why I didnt steal. Its because I had something to fight for, my son Aaden he was here when I was 17 and from 13 to 16 I was religiously on neopets anytime after school. I have always strived to do better for Aaden. In 2018 I was granted full custody of my son and ever since then things have been getting way better. I'm able to not just live from paycheck to paycheck and buy things I like. But Ive always wondered why was I blessed.

[Cavdude]

Not easy, but definitely possible. Coming from someone who spent his entire childhood below the poverty level. Dad made piss poor financial decisions, but at the time was needed to get by. Mom was never in the picture. Fast forward to my early adult years I quickly realized I no longer wanted to live like that. Joined the service, learned A LOT about personal finances, and can proudly say I’m no longer following that path I was on as a child/teenager. Bettered myself. I now own my house vs owning a run down mobile home. Not claiming to be well off, but not financially struggling either.

[firedrops]

Like others have mentioned, it's possible but not easy.

My parents immigrated from China to Australia. My father in the late 80s and my mother in '95. From what I recall my father telling me, he arrived in Australia after borrowing money from multiple friends and family members. And the first place he stayed at upon arriving was shared with 10 other people, all sleeping on the floor. He went around to businesses on foot in yellow pages (phone book) asking if they had a job for him. He was lucky and did find a job. Other people were not so lucky. I don't know if it was an exaggeration or not but they went through a pair of shoes but still couldn't find a job.

By the time I was born, my parents owned a small business so I never experienced any of the hardship my father did and his hard work did pay off, even if I don't know all the in-betweens.

[HiroiSekai]

I do think it's initially important to consider the exact term of poverty, which insists that you do not have enough funds for basic life necessities like food, water and shelter. With that said, I would say our family grew up very poor but above the poverty line.

We still had a rough time starting back in the early '90s. My parents couldn't afford babysitters, so I'd be left over at friends' houses after school early on while both my parents worked hard labour, low paying jobs all day. Being immigrants as well, my parents couldn't speak English well and couldn't easily get a high-paying job or education here. They spent my entire childhood juggling providing me whatever they could while owning small convenience stores to make money.

Even into my teenage years, we had just scrounged together some money for a cheap old van, and we moved to another part of the country to invest longer term in another larger convenience store. When they bought the building on a payback lease, the upstairs building that used to be a hair salon became our home. Trying to save money, my mother worked long days standing on her feet helping at the till, dealing with staff training, scheduling, etc. and my father handled all of the accounting, heavy lifting, driving out to purchase inventory, etc.
A lot of the time, they'd happily let friends come over to hang out to keep me company while they worked, but they ended up being too busy, leaving us to order cheap pizza to sustain ourselves.
These two small shops they ran lasted almost 20 years when combined. That's when they finally scraped out of living poor and invested in their first house, a nice duplex overlooking a lake.

In the meanwhile, I myself started working long hours at McDonald's at 15, under grouchy managers, terrible pay and even worse hours, and saving every penny I could. For about 5 years I worked in a fast food, making small change.

It was only about 5 years ago now that our family took a look at where we are and agreed that all of our hardships paid off. Living in dingy apartments, reworked spaces, working minimum wage jobs for long hours, etc. for almost 25 years, my parents are finally getting to a point of comfort to invest a bit more into their retirement funds. I'm also at a very nice job, with my own apartment and maybe even by next year, my first mortgage.

Is it easy to get out of poverty? Absolutely not. We were slightly above the poverty line and it took us about 25 years of hard times to get to the mid-upper class level. That also has the benefit of better sustainability at that level. If you scrape out of the poverty line into the poor class, it only takes one event to toss you right back in. You have to lay a lot of groundwork, using resources you don't have and find a way to find your own sustainability and gradually climb out. It definitely can be done for those who stay proactive instead of reactive, but it is by no means easy, or we wouldn't have such a big poverty issue in the world.

[Raposa]

Sure, if you don't have a disability and you have people around you to support you emotionally. And even then a lot comes down to luck and circumstance.

Not being able to drive due to a disability when you live in a part of rural America where minimum wage is your only option and internet sucks? You're gonna have a really hard time trying to rise above.

[phantasia]

Sure, if you don't have a disability and you have people around you to support you emotionally. And even then a lot comes down to luck and circumstance.

Not being able to drive due to a disability when you live in a part of rural America where minimum wage is your only option and internet sucks? You're gonna have a really hard time trying to rise above.

Yea any disability or medical problem like T1 Diabetes is not only a bigger financial burden to carry but also an extra mountain to climb. It also closes many doors to opportunities one could have pursued if it was not for the disability or illness.

Cavdude your a great sucess story. What resources did you use to learn more about personal finances.

[Cavdude]

Yea any disability or medical problem like T1 Diabetes is not only a bigger financial burden to carry but also an extra mountain to climb. It also closes many doors to opportunities one could have pursued if it was not for the disability or illness.

Cavdude your a great sucess story. What resources did you use to learn more about personal finances.

Mostly trail and error from watching my father growing up. I did 10 years in the armed services and picked up a thing or two from all financial classes that they made us attend regularly.

[miss_darkie]

I think it really depends on the country you live in. I have multiple health problems, can't go to work due to this, so I'm living on a benefit. My country has a good health system, so I have minimum wage. But I live in a nice apartment, I have food and clothing, ... And when I really need something I can't afford I try to save for it or look for it in a thrift store or online if possible.

But if you can go to work it sure is possible to get out of poverty. But you have to be lucky (that's with everything in life...)

[phantasia]

I think it really depends on the country you live in. I have multiple health problems, can't go to work due to this, so I'm living on a benefit. My country has a good health system, so I have minimum wage. But I live in a nice apartment, I have food and clothing, ... And when I really need something I can't afford I try to save for it or look for it in a thrift store or online if possible.

But if you can go to work it sure is possible to get out of poverty. But you have to be lucky (that's with everything in life...)

What country do you live in? I think because I have limited knowledge of other countries I can only give my perspective and in South Africa, good health care is very exspensive.

[goodnightmoon]

In America, poverty is extremely difficult to get out of, but as others have said: not impossible. The issue here is that there are SO many systemic issues working against the individual that basically are like someone holding your head underwater even though you have the strength to pull yourself up. Race and geographic location are two major social determinants that impact the ease of rising out of poverty. It also depends on, basically, sheer luck and support system as well.

And, even more unfortunate, the class systems grow wider and wider apart in America. It's painful.

That being said, your mom sounds incredible :love_heart:

[Effektivv]

It's easy if you have support, impossible if you don't.
I grew up in an extremely poor and broken home, left when I was 14 and was homeless until I was 21.
I now make 6 figures, have 2 kids and own my own home.
But it was because I had friends that helped, without them I know for a fact I would still be on the streets.

[Kibba]

It's a different journey for everyone but it gets better

Everything that's happening it's supposed to happen, it's a time where you learn and see things changing in a big scale

But yeah for some it will be easy, to others it's gonna be really hard
The secret is... hang on and trust the process.

[Flordibel]

This thread has been GRAVEDUG.

Please take note of the last post date, HiroiSekai, before posting on old topics. This also doesn't make it a free-for-all for everyone else to post on old topics, either.

Closing.