America's poor actually live pretty durn well

[daredtowork]

7. Return of the X-Box Welfare Prince

The problem for the poor isn't household goods - the problem is how to meet recurring payments. Food is usually the easiest to come by. Rent is the number one issue, closely followed by basic phone bill, utilities: heat/gas/electricity/water, transportation (public transportation tickets or gas for your vehicle), and basic needs you need to regularly shell out for like doing your laundry. How to meet these recurrent payments if you don't have a regular income?

One of the most absurd things about all the opining about "bad decisions" made by the poor and all the resources poured ONLY into "how to write a resume" employment programs is they don't grok the bigger picture of these recurrent payments. This is what causes the "toxic stress" and creates the destabilizing conditions that tend to cause mental health issues. This is why the poor are always in crisis mode, putting out fires, running around to appointments, and are actually working like they have 5 jobs even though they don't get any money for their effort, time, and stress. The poor need to deal with these recurring payments.

The XBox someone gave the kid for Christmas is not going to help them with that.