Why am I embarrassed to be poor?

[Kenny_Kamel]

Well just be happy that you are in Finland, a nation with a much more generous welfare safety net than the US. I’m in the US and I will tell you firsthand that it’s pretty bad over here if you are poor. My family’s house is going into foreclosure. For now, the legal process is going pretty slow but I’m still wondering where I will live once my time is up here.

In the US especially, people have heavily misguided and outdated notions that poverty is the individual’s fault. In some cases, poverty is the direct result of poor life choices. But in many cases, poverty is caused by bad luck and lack of opportunity.

One of my best friends is from Finland and she has struggled with lack of employment opportunities beyond entry level positions. She has the equivalent of two American Masters Degrees and is working on a Law Degree. She has moved from her hometown of Pyhajoki to Tampere to get a job that didn’t work out and she went back to school. She then moved from Tampere to Rovaniemi to get a job that didn’t work out and she went back to school. Last year she moved to Helsinki and we’ll see how things go. This is her life over the past 9 years.

I echo the quoted poster’s sentiments about Finland’s social welfare system, I have been out of work for over two months and have $1.70 in the bank right now. I can’t even apply for public aid benefits until I have been out of work for 90 days, mind you that I have been actively seeking employment and taking interviews. I can pull money from my retirement investments if I absolutely have to but that would be an act of desperation that I don’t want to commit.

Have you thought about going back to school in Finland or moving elsewhere? I have been suggesting to my aforementioned friend in Finland that she should consider coming to America because her education could afford her great opportunities here.

 

[Jeanne_S]

Apologies; I didn’t see this.

There is a newer study dated 2013, based on 2010 data.

You were right; it’s $60,000 in one state; $50,000 in some others.

object.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/pubs/pdf/the_work_versus_welfare_trade-off_2013_wp.pdf

So why in the world would anyone be motivated to get off welfare and actually work?
We wonder why SS is going broke.Here we have working people who were forced to pay into the system,and may or may not get anything in the end.As opposed to those who haven’t contributed,yet receive benefits.
Now before I get chastised for not being charitable,I don’t have an issue with helping out families in duress.However,when it becomes a generational lifestyle to be on the dole,I do object to that!

 

[Gertabelle]

And my understanding is that that $60,000 figure is the pretax equivalent, i.e., that they get a package of goods and services tax-free that’s the equivalent of that a $60,000 family gets after taxes.

There was a study based on 1995 figures; there may be more recent info. It wasn’t $60,000 in 1995 dollars but would probably be higher now.

cato.org/pubs/pas/pa-240.html

So why in the world would anyone be motivated to get off welfare and actually work?
We wonder why SS is going broke.Here we have working people who were forced to pay into the system,and may or may not get anything in the end.As opposed to those who haven’t contributed,yet receive benefits.
Now before I get chastised for not being charitable,I don’t have an issue with helping out families in duress.However,when it becomes a generational lifestyle to be on the dole,I do object to that!

Careful with your sources. CATO is an organization devoted to small government, so they are highly motivated to show that the government is too big – making it look like welfare makes lives all cushy for people is one way of trying to engender public outcry to get rid of it.

Just saying.

 

[signit]

Careful with your sources. CATO is an organization devoted to small government, so they are highly motivated to show that the government is too big – making it look like welfare makes lives all cushy for people is one way of trying to engender public outcry to get rid of it.

Just saying.

I should add, this isn’t every family.

They set up a profile (single mother, over 21, two children ages 1 and 4) and took into account the six major programs a family like that would be likely to receive (AFDC, food stamps, Medicaid, public housing, nutrition assistance, utility assistance).

 

[mikekle]

So why in the world would anyone be motivated to get off welfare and actually work?
We wonder why SS is going broke.Here we have working people who were forced to pay into the system,and may or may not get anything in the end.As opposed to those who haven’t contributed,yet receive benefits.
Now before I get chastised for not being charitable,I don’t have an issue with helping out families in duress.However,when it becomes a generational lifestyle to be on the dole,I do object to that!

Oh I agree, I worked with 2 sisters yrs ago in fast food, they were in their early 20s then, and remember them talking about trying desperately to get pregnant, so they could get on Govt assistance…they succeeded and I recently saw one their daughters got pregnant at 17. working with these girls as long as I did, I got to know them, and I assume they probably told this daughter to do the same thing and she will never have to worry about working ****** jobs ever again.

Of course, living like this, that daughter is going to tell her kids the same exact thing when they grow up, on and on down the line. There are quite a few people like this in my area too, only thing I cant understand, so many people living like this end up having female babies, kind of strange.

 

[ggoopp]

I am experiencing a major hardship at this moment (facing eviction if I don’t come up with all my rent). Just yesterday, I needed gas to make it back home from work. All I had were $4 in change. To make it even more difficult and embarrassing the cash register made a joke about it. He said “oh wow” then said “be careful not to overfill”. I wanted to disappear!!

 

[Lormar]

I am experiencing a major hardship at this moment (facing eviction if I don’t come up with all my rent). Just yesterday, I needed gas to make it back home from work. All I had were $4 in change. To make it even more difficult and embarrassing the cash register made a joke about it. He said “oh wow” then said “be careful not to overfill”. I wanted to disappear!!

Most are insensitive to the poor unless they have been poor themselves. If they had ever been poor, they would understand.

 

[therese14]

Aim to be spiritually rich.

Think about the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. Riches aren’t everything. If you have it like Abraham then fine. God bless you. If you’re like St Lazarus the beggar, God bless you too. And eventually, the reward is heaven. Jesus only asks for our love.

You’d be embarrassed if the poverty comes from sin, such as sloth or anything. But if you’ve done all you can to love God but still poor, then think about St Lazarus the beggar.

 

[Memaw]

Most are insensitive to the poor unless they have been poor themselves. If they had ever been poor, they would understand.

I grew up “poor” too and I am thankful for everything my Mother taught us about being thankful for what we have. I have never been materialistic. I actually have sympathy for those who are. I have never owned a credit card. If I can’t afford it, I do without. Being “poor” in Spirit is far worse. I thank God every day for my Catholic faith and my Mom for passing it on to us, may she rest in peace. God Bless, Memaw

 

[Tablefor9]

So why in the world would anyone be motivated to get off welfare and actually work?
We wonder why SS is going broke.Here we have working people who were forced to pay into the system,and may or may not get anything in the end.As opposed to those who haven’t contributed,yet receive benefits.
Now before I get chastised for not being charitable,I don’t have an issue with helping out families in duress.However,when it becomes a generational lifestyle to be on the dole,I do object to that!

This is exactly my position. As a nurse, I have seen so much abuse of the “system”. So many people who grow up milking every dollar they can, because they would have less disposable income in an entry level job, even with more education.

But to OP/on topic: Pride. I am working to mortify it, as well. This is my mainstay: Phil 4:12 from the DR:

I know both how to be brought low, and I know how to abound: (everywhere, and in all things I am instructed) both to be full, and to be hungry; both to abound, and to suffer need.

 

[katpants]

I am experiencing a major hardship at this moment (facing eviction if I don’t come up with all my rent). Just yesterday, I needed gas to make it back home from work. All I had were $4 in change. To make it even more difficult and embarrassing the cash register made a joke about it. He said “oh wow” then said “be careful not to overfill”. I wanted to disappear!!

Ugh karma will find them! I had a shop clerk do the same at me. I was like you are working at a place whose slogan is they are cheap lol!

Kat

 

[katpants]

Most are insensitive to the poor unless they have been poor themselves. If they had ever been poor, they would understand.