[disneysteve]

arthur, I don't think any of us are suggesting that poverty can't be overcome but rather that it is exceedingly difficult to overcome. When you have no education, no money, no transportation, no family support, no health insurance, etc., it is very, very difficult to make any progress in life. The poor, as GREENBACK alluded to, often work manual labor, physically demanding and dangerous jobs where they are unlikely to have health insurance. One simple injury can be devastating. I could tell you any number of stories along those lines from my practice.

As for getting 2nd or 3rd jobs, that is nearly impossible when your 1st job requires 10-12 hour shifts 6 or 7 days each week, often with fluctuating hours and mandatory overtime. Also, you are dependent on public transit so may spend an hour or more commuting in each direction. If you also have a family to care for, it doesn't leave any time for much else.

It is also undeniable that the poor spend a much larger percentage of income on necessities. They pay the same prices as the rest of us pay for stuff. In fact, because of the retail options available to them, they often pay even more than the rest of us. I can get a gallon of milk for $2.09, for example, at my nice suburban market. That same gallon of milk in the poor neighborhood may be $3.50.

For those fortunate enough to own a car, they get hit with higher insurance costs because of where they live. Someone earning $250/week who spends $35 to fill his tank is putting out 14% of his weekly gross income whereas that $35 would only represent less than 2% of my income.

I could go on and on with examples. The point is that even someone trying to do everything right has struggles that the rest of us don't have in our lives. That makes rising above the poverty surrounding them very challenging.