I think our system rewards failure and poverty.  Before the days of WIC, food stamps, and government assistance, you had to get money or you starved.  Now people know that the government won't let them starve.  

Schools have lowered teaching standards just to get their test scores up.  Students who really need help are allowed to pass a test just for the sake of making the school look good.  This does not help the student who has problems understanding the material.  

A lot of social welfare programs are a temporary fix and they don't really help people become independent.  

First of all, who is to say what these people's situation is really like. We can observe and judge all we want, but you can't just assume they're where they are because of their mentality.

That said, it also may be true. In order to really improve your situation financially, you have to pay the price through performance, education, ambition, integrity, etc... the list goes on and on. I don't believe that everybody has those desires or characteristics, so they are stuck where they're at financially.

But you never know...

We just have to be careful not to judge.

http://www.financialnut.com

I had my son young (at 18) but I knew I had a medical problem that would make me infertile very young (by 25). I have used WIC(only for food for my son) and my son was on medicaid. I am married (at 17) and we both where in college. I finished my college education while working part time and my DH worked full time at a pizza place. We had one car and living is the a nice house. Now that I have a professsional job (I teach) we have two cars but that only thing that has changed. We planned and have worked hard to get what we have. It was frustrating at times but I knew thing would get better with hard work and education. If you want your finances to change, then you are the only one to change it

. My parents had four kids with a single income for 14 years. When my father got his nursing degree things change for us, we had money. Well my parent got used to money and ran up debt because they always felt they deserved more because they had been denied in past.

I taught myself "Deserving is something someone else deems, you either need or want something. No one ever deserve something because thy think they do, they are using an excuse to get something the want."

Write your blessings in stone, and troubles in sand! All things will past both good and bad, Plan for your worse and live your best.

In the book the Tightwad Gazette, the author states she has worked with people in poverty and never has she seen  people do everything they could to be financially ahead.  Whether it be cold cereal, or fast food, they rarely do what it takes. If you can afford those luxuries and desire them, go ahead.  But if someone chooses those over oatmeal, homemade muffins, etc, don't cry to others about the state of poverty you choose.... and yes it is a choice.  We are not entitled to thoses things just because.  

I've unfortunately had to break off friendships with a couple of families because their constant whining, negativity and anger about the little guy "not being able to get ahead" was dragging me down into the same mindset. I was in the same poor circumstances they were, but in a couple of years I was making three times as much - because I fought hard to advance. But I agree, it's hard to judge others without knowing what kind of education and opportunities they have seen - I was the only one with a college degree and a strong work ethic learned at home, so I knew my potential and believed my poverty was temporary. To succeed, you need to surround yourself with successful people and not losers.

Sarah, that's an inspiring story.  Thank you for sharing.

I think it was Henry Ford who said: If you believe you can or believe you can't, you're right.

This is America and everyone has opportunities here. If she has never worked and he is making minimum wage, something is wrong here. There has to be more to this story.

I touched on this subject a few days ago financialcomedy.com

Money problems are rarely fixed by adding more money into the mix.

Injecting a mass amount of money into someone's life will not make their money issues go away without a strong foundation of good money management, strong financial goals, and more importantly financial know how.

If you are broke or poor, finding ways to cut all unneccessary costs while increasing income is your best bet. Knowing where you want to be and planning how to get there and not deviating from your goals is the way to go.

Budget your money, no matter how much or how little, plan plan plan, and decide what is most important to you.

You are not entitiled to anything you have not worked for or planed for.

You can either let life happen to you or you take control of your life. But by saying there is nothing I can do is hogwash, there is always something you can do.

Being broke is a temporary financial situation, being poor is a state of mind. An academic study of 'luck' found that 'lucky' people are those that can see an opportunity and do everything they can to grab it. Unlucky people don't.

After 20 years, is the couple working 2 jobs, doing all they can to accumulate any money? Is their poverty structural? In other words, have they set themselves up so they can't spend less money? Does this couple buy stuff because everyone else does? I can't tell you how many times I drive by low rent apartments to see satellite dishes installed on decks, or expensive cars in the parking lot. Poor people waste money on stupid stuff because they feel they deserve to have something good, even though it won't help them get ahead.

The most inspirational stories are those of people making no more than $8 an hour, donating a million dollars to charity, because they learned how to work, save, and invest.

My mother was a single mom with 8 children one after the other.   My mother forced us to work since we were 8 years old because she couldn't cover the basis (food, shelter and clothes).   There were times that just have coffee in the morning before going to school.   I know what being hungry and helpless means.   However, my mother send us to school, we all finished HS and some went to university.   We never ask the government (Nicaragua) for help because it didn't exist.   We are happy that we could survive by our own means and continue to be.   If this government continue pampering  people, they will never be able to be independent.   Education, and child control is the only way to get out of poverty.  DJ