What it feels like to be poor?

Poverty is a complex issue that impacts millions of people worldwide. For those living in poverty, daily life can be a constant struggle just to meet basic needs. Financial hardship shapes every aspect of their existence and can lead to difficult choices, deprivation, and diminished opportunities. So what is it actually like to be poor and underprivileged in today’s society? This article will explore various aspects of living in poverty.

Table of Contents

Facing scarcity and deprivation

One of the most fundamental challenges of living in poverty is facing constant scarcity across all areas of life. When you’re poor, you lack steady access even to life’s most basic necessities. This could mean:

Having uncertain access to nutritious food due to lack of money. Poor families may eat low quality foods lacking in nutrients and go hungry between pay checks or food stamp distribution. Food insecurity has major health consequences.

Living in inadequate, substandard housing that is structurally unsound, overcrowded, or unsafe. Low income households often reside in poor conditions including leaky roofs, broken appliances, rodent infestations, or neighborhoods with high crime.
Being unable to access healthcare due to lack of insurance. Doctor visits for preventative care, medications, and procedures become unattainable luxuries. Minor illnesses can spiral into chronic issues.
Having limited utilities like electricity, heating, or water, or facing utility shut offs. Utilities become unaffordable bills that strain monthly budgets.

Being unable to afford childcare, hindering parents from working or pursuing education. Many low income families rely heavily on unstable childcare arrangements.

Deprivation in meeting these basic physiological and safety needs impacts physical health as well as mental health. It also perpetuates the cycle of poverty across generations.

Constant financial stress

Poverty places enormous financial stress on families as they stretch each paycheck and make difficult tradeoffs. The daily burden of lacking money permeates every decision. Challenges include:

Falling behind on bills and debt payments, damaging credit scores, and fielding calls from creditors.
Agonizing over prices for even small household purchases at the grocery or pharmacy. A modest increase in cost can break the budget.
Balancing the immediate need to pay for food and gas against longer term expenses like car repairs or medical bills. It often feels like robbing Peter to pay Paul.

Living paycheck to paycheck without any savings buffer for unexpected emergencies like job loss or illnesses. An crisis expense can be catastrophic.
Making difficult choices between basic needs like paying rent vs. keeping lights on. There is constant anxiety over making ends meet.

This level of financial instability and stress takes a toll on mental and physical health. It also reduces bandwidth for other life areas like parenting, relationships, or career advancement.

The hidden costs of poverty

In addition to obvious costs like food, housing, and utilities, there are many hidden costs that trap families in a cycle of poverty. These include:

Low income neighborhoods often lack affordable banking and credit options. People are forced to use predatory lenders and check cashing services that charge very high interest rates and fees.
Public transportation runs less frequently in poor areas. People must spend more time commuting and have limited job options due to reliance on buses or trains.

Healthy foods are scarce in “food deserts” so the poor often rely on cheap fast food and convenience stores. This contributes to higher obesity rates.
Second-hand shopping is necessary to clothe and equip a household affordably. Items wear out faster and need frequent replacing.
Older vehicles break down often, yet the poor cannot afford repairs or replacements. Unreliable transportation further limits jobs.

Utility and rental deposits are costly barriers to getting established in a new home. Landlords avoid renting to high risk tenants.

These hidden costs add up, consuming large proportions of limited incomes. They also create barriers to upward economic mobility.

Social exclusion and isolation

Poverty often leads to social marginalization, exclusion, and isolation. Low income individuals may experience:

Being unable to afford recreational activities, entertainment events, or cultural experiences.
Avoiding social situations where inability to contribute financially would be embarrassing.
Feeling like an outsider in social circles of better off peers or being left out of social networks.

Cutting ties with better off family members to avoid uncomfortable interactions over financial disparities.
Sensing disapproval from peers who judge poverty as a personal failing.
Lacking contacts and networks to learn about job opportunities or access services like affordable housing.

This social exclusion reduces access to resources and support systems that could help break the cycle of poverty.

Effects on mental health

The daily stresses and disadvantages of poverty exert a heavy toll on mental health over time:

Feelings of depression, anxiety, anger, and despair over continual financial struggle and perceived entrapment in poverty.

High levels of stress from juggling bills, managing crises, dealing with creditors, fears over eviction or utilities shut off.
Humiliation and shame over using food stamps, living in run down housing, or being unable to adequately provide for children.
Fatalistic feelings that hard work is pointless because the system is stacked against climbing out of poverty.

Low self-worth from being unable to afford “normal” standards of living like peers.
Trauma and toxic stress that inhibit cognitive function and physical health.

Mental health issues both contribute to and result from poverty. Improving access to mental health resources could increase resiliency.

Impact on family life

Families living paycheck to paycheck in substandard housing lack the stability vital to child development. Challenges include:

Parents working multiple low wage jobs with inflexible schedules struggle to find childcare and have little energy left for nurturing parenting.
Frequent relocations between temporary housing disrupt schooling and community ties for children.

Older children often miss school to care for younger siblings enabling parents to work.
Poor nutrition and healthcare along with high family stress impair kids’ healthy development.
Teenagers may resent parental inability to afford “normal” clothing, activities, electronics, cars, college, etc. leading to conflict.

These dynamics perpetuate the intergenerational cycle of poverty. Investing in families could yield huge dividends.

Crime and unsafe neighborhoods

Due to economic exclusion, the poor often live concentrated together in unsafe, high crime neighborhoods. Challenges include:

High crime rates threaten physical safety of residents.

Gang activity offers economic opportunities lacking in the mainstream economy.
Youths engage in illegal activities due to bleak outlook for education/employment.
Drug and alcohol use provide an escape from harsh realities of poverty.

Police profiling and over-policing of poor communities erodes trust in law enforcement.
Witnessing violence causes long term trauma, especially for children.

Crime and violence become normalized parts of daily life rather than anomalies. This creates a destructive environment for healthy development and reducing poverty.

Poor education outcomes

Growing up poor severely undermines educational achievement starting from early childhood:

Malnourishment and stress at home impair brain development in infants and toddlers.
Parents working multiple jobs have little energy left to read to kids or assist with homework.

Frequent moves between shelters or temporary housing lead to switching schools and lack of continuity.
Schools in low income neighborhoods tend to be underfunded and lack resources.
Poor children start school already significantly behind peers, and gaps widen over time.

To contribute income or care for siblings, poor teens often drop out of high school.
College is generally unaffordable, seen as unrealistic, and not encouraged.

Subpar education credentials then limit employment options and continuing the cycle of poverty.

Barriers to employment

Several factors related to poverty severely restrict employment opportunities:

Lack of access to transportation limits the jobs available across a metro region.
Unstable childcare makes it hard to maintain steady work schedules.

Poor physical and mental health impact ability to work.
Limited education credentials lead to only low wage, unstable jobs.
Gaps in employment history raise red flags with hiring managers.

Lack of professional networks and contacts to learn about openings.
Inability to afford interview clothes, licensing fees, or equipment.
Hiring discrimination based on indicators of poverty like bad credit or an inner city address.

Meaningful employment is key to reducing poverty, yet systemic barriers persist.

Feeling trapped in the poverty cycle

The cumulative impact of all these poverty-related challenges often produces a sense of fatalism and perception of being permanently trapped:

Given the enormity of hurdles to overcome, escaping poverty seems impossible.

Daily survival needs monopolize time and energy, leaving little to plan long term.
Successes feel temporary since one crisis can spiral back into poverty.
Each generation raised in poverty struggles to break the cycle.

Government and social policies seem designed to maintain the status quo.
Upward mobility requires identifying and accessing scarce resources and supports.
Those who move up often struggle with “survivor’s guilt.”

This fatalistic mindset reflects the daunting structural challenges baked into our economic system. Addressing core drivers of poverty at societal level is vital.

Policy solutions to break the poverty cycle

While individual grit and responsibility have a role, some policy responses to significantly reduce poverty include:

Guaranteed living wage not dependent on tips. Should support dignified quality of life.

Truly universal healthcare to sever link between income and access.
Affordable housing funds focused on low income populations.
Greatly increased investment in early childhood education.

Free tuition for public colleges and vocational training programs.
Transportation improvements to connect the poor to opportunity.
Tax credits, child allowances, and other income boosts for the poor.

Student loan forgiveness to lessen burdens of education costs.

While expensive, these investments could yield huge long term dividends through improved health, productivity, opportunity, and reduced spending on poverty’s negative outcomes.

Conclusion

In sum, poverty profoundly shapes and constrains daily life across multiple dimensions from food security, housing, healthcare, social inclusion, mental health, family life, exposure to crime and violence, education, employment, and more. The high levels of instability and stress at the most basic levels of Maslow’s hierarchy make it extremely difficult for impoverished families to plan and invest for the future. The resulting short-term, crisis-driven existence becomes a self-perpetuating cycle.

While personal responsibility has a role, poverty is the product of economic and social structures that concentrate opportunity in the hands of the few. Public policy solutions focused on education, employment, healthcare, housing and wages could significantly expand opportunity for the poor and enable them to achieve their full potential as productive members of society. Investment in poverty reduction could yield immense social and economic returns over time. But political will is necessary to acknowledge the human costs of poverty and reorient our priorities toward creating an economy that works for all.