There are people, concentrated in the Hamptons and Beverly Hills, who still confuse poverty with the simple life. No cable TV, no altercations with the maid, no summer home maintenance issues – just the basics, like family, sunsets, and walks in the park. What they don’t know is that it’s expensive to be poor. In fact, you, the reader of middling income, could probably not afford it.

A new study from the Brookings Institute documents the “ghetto tax,” or higher cost of living in low-income urban neighborhoods. It comes at you from every direction, from food prices to auto insurance. A few examples from this study, by Matt Fellowes, that covered 12 American cities:

* Poor people are less likely to have bank accounts, which can be expensive for those with low balances, and so they tend to cash their pay checks at check-cashing businesses, which in the cities surveyed, charged $5 to $50 for a $500 check.
* Nationwide, low-income car buyers, defined as people earning less than $30,000 a year, pay two percentage points more for a car loan than more affluent buyers.
* Low-income drivers pay more for car insurance. In New York, Baltimore and Hartford, they pay an average $400 more a year to insure the exact same car and driver risk than wealthier drivers.
* Poorer people pay an average of one percentage point more in mortgage interest.
* They are more likely to buy their furniture and appliances through pricey rent-to-own businesses. In Wisconsin, the study reports, a $200 rent-to-own TV set can cost $700 with the interest included.
* They are less likely to have access to large supermarkets and hence to rely on the far more expensive, and lower quality offerings, of small grocery and convenience stores.

I didn’t live in any ghettoes when I worked on Nickle and Dimed—a trailer park, yes, but no ghetto-- and on my average wage of $7 an hour, or about $14,400 a year, I wasn’t in the market for furniture, a house or a car. But the high cost of poverty was brought home to me within a few days of my entry into the low-wage life, when, slipping into social-worker mode, I chastised a co-worker for living in a motel room when it would be so much cheaper to rent an apartment. Her response: Where would she get the first month’s rent and security deposit it takes to pin down an apartment? The lack of that amount of capital – probably well over $1000 – condemned her to paying $40 a night at the Day’s Inn.

Then there was the problem of sustenance. I had gone into the project imagining myself preparing vast quantities of cheap, nutritious, soups and stews, which I would freeze and heat for dinner each day. But surprise: I didn’t have the proverbial pot to pee in, not to mention spices or Tupperware. A scouting trip to K-Mart established that it would take about a $40 capital investment to get my kitchenette up to speed for the low-wage way of life.

The food situation got only more challenging when I, too, found myself living in a motel. Lacking a fridge and microwave, all my food had to come from the nearest convenience store (hardboiled eggs and banana for breakfast) or, for the big meal of the day, Wendy’s or KFC. I have no nutritional complaints; after all, there is a veggie, or flecks of one, in Wendy’s broccoli and cheese baked potato. The problem was financial. A double cheese burger and fries is lot more expensive than that hypothetical home-made lentil stew.

There are other tolls along the road well-traveled by the working poor. If your credit is lousy, which it is likely to be, you’ll pay a higher deposit for a phone. If you don’t have health insurance, you may end taking that feverish child to an emergency room, and please don’t think of ER’s as socialized medicine for the poor. The average cost of a visit is over $1000, which is over ten times more than what a clinic pediatrician would charge. Or you neglect that hypertension, diabetes or mystery lump until you end up with a $100,000 problem on your hands.

So let’s have a little less talk about how the poor should learn to manage their money, and a little more attention to all the ways that money is being systematically siphoned off. Yes, certain kinds of advice would be helpful: skip the pay-day loans and rent-to-pay furniture, for example. But we need laws in more states to stop predatory practices like $50 charges for check-cashing. Also, think what some micro-credit could do to move families from motels and shelters to apartments. And did I mention a living wage?

If you’re rich, you might want to stay that way. It’s a whole lot cheaper than being poor.

I agree! I am poor and it's expensive as heck! I still wanna be richthough.

This post has been edited by localinvestor: Jan 2 2007, 07:59 AM

what an eye opening observation.
another interesting question would be,
which place is more expensive to live in?
a four-season country or a tropical country.
yeah, i know it's off topic
but the above scenario is applicable to rich countries with 4 seasons.

Money makes Money...The rich get richer the poor sstay poor it's true

Get rich then

This post has been edited by marc williams: Jan 2 2007, 08:21 AM

I may be poor, but at least I'm not in debt like about 44% americans are, according to what I read somewhere.

wow that crazy figures USA is Doomed

I'm not american but I am IN DEBT, lol

hopefully it will change soon

Well I dont know about you guys but I am inspired to take action.

20% of americans don't have spare cash/money on hand after paying bills with their paychecks. Luckily I am not in debt or poor, but there is always the possibility.

Didnt mean to scares anyone.

I just thought the statement you can afford to be poor
wuz like WTF, if you know what I means ?

This film is probably the best history movie you will ever see in your life.
In total it is about 5 hours of footage but worth every ... all » second.
You will probably learn more in 5 hours of watching this film than you will
learn in any college history class. Fasten your seat belts.

Part 1. Movie

Part 2. Movie

movieplotz
v
megaplex

The poor are closer to God than the rich. Just 4% of the people in Hollywood go to church. If you are poor, you may not have all the material things you want but you probably have more heart than rich people do. In other words you will probably give away your last slice of bread to another poor person knowing full well that God will provide you with the means to acquire another slice of bread to replace the one you gave to a poor man, woman or child who was hungry.

Look around you and see who helps the poor the most. Not the government who has the power to do so but chooses not to.

How much time do you have left on Earth ? And how much time will you spend in eternity?

I will take being poor and being close to God any day over having a big heap of money and no relationship with God who knows all and will judge those who reject the poor.

I am not poor but I know how they feel about being rejected by society and especially the rich who can help a lot more but instead choose to pamper themselves in every way imaginable.

I strive to make money to pay off my family's home mortgage and credit cards to be free of interest bearing loans. Then I will be in a better postion to help those who have slipped and fallen down in despair.

Trust in God !! Ask Her to Help you in Prayer !! Your days are numbered !! Be of Good Cheer for God wants to bring you Home !!

A local priest and pastor were fishing on the side of the road. They thoughtfully made a sign saying "The End is Near! Turn yourself around now before it's too late!" and showed it to each passing car.

One driver who drove by didn't appreciate the sign and shouted at them: "Leave us alone, you religious nuts!".

All of a sudden they heard a big splash, looked at each other, and the priest said to the pastor: "You think we should have just said 'bridge out' instead?'".

Man O man cant peeps stay on topic?

my prediction:
one day you teach everybody to use the power pause and everybody
who study it, will be very rich.


I read it in my cup of coffee.





http://www.psychicsahar.com/artman/publish/article_202.shtml



This post has been edited by Get Paid To :): Jan 3 2007, 05:31 AM

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