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Growing up in extreme poverty is an experience many people can’t relate to. People who grew up in impoverished homes have a different view of the world than those from more privileged backgrounds.
An online discussion platform asked its members to elaborate on the problems faced by the socioeconomically disadvantaged that most people couldn’t even imagine, and the responses are heartbreaking.
1. Extreme Hunger
It’s one thing to feel a slight hunger pang between regular meals. However, living with the type of hunger when your stomach is empty because you haven’t eaten anything all day is quite another thing. After all, there was no food in the house.
This is the type of hunger that a person can’t even sleep to escape from the feeling, a commenter discloses.
2. No Proper Shoes
People growing up poor don’t have a sizable collection of shoes to pick and choose from. It’s common to wear the same shoes until they fall apart. A participant from the discussion recounts “putting grocery bags in your winter boots to ‘keep your feet dry’ when the boots have holes in them.”
Having a second pair of shoes is a luxury many impoverished families can’t afford.
3. The Value of Leftover Food
Financially struggling households find it difficult to put food on the table. There’s no room to waste or throw away food, so eating leftover food until it’s gone is the norm.
One contributor on the thread expresses their disbelief that some people they know refuse to eat leftovers.
4. Government Surplus Food
Families living below the poverty level frequently rely on government surplus food programs to have something to eat. Somebody vividly recalls “picking the peanut shells pieces out of the giant tub of government issue peanut butter, those blocks of cheese that turn into a brick if you don’t finish it within a day, and the taste of powdered milk.”
This may sound foreign to people who’ve never struggled financially. Still, the program remains a lifeline for many individuals and families.
5. Housing Insecurity
The ability to comfortably make monthly rent or mortgage payments is something many people take for granted.
But for people experiencing poverty, paying rent each month can be a struggle, especially if there’s no one to turn to for help.
6. Everything Old is New
Replacing obsolete or broken items is a common occurrence many take for granted. People who can’t afford to spend money replacing broken objects make do with what they have.
Someone in the forum remembers their childhood: “If your toys broke, you glued them/taped them; if you found an old toy, you just got a new toy.” Buying new things is only sometimes an affordable option.
7. Basic Utilities
Children growing up in disadvantaged homes are familiar with the feeling of coming home from school each day and not knowing if the electrical, gas, water, or cable service will still be on because their parents fell behind in making their monthly payments.
8. Wearing Hand-Me-Down Clothing
Everyone loves the feeling of getting and wearing brand-new clothes. When a family lives paycheck to paycheck, new clothing is an expense they can’t afford unless necessary.
One of the users on the forum admits to growing up wearing their cousin’s hand-me-down clothing because their parents couldn’t afford to buy them new clothes as they outgrew them.
9. Food Stamps
For people living in poverty, food stamps often make the difference between whether or not there’s food in the house.
Someone recollects the embarrassment and shame they felt using food stamps to pay for their groceries because they didn’t have any money.
10. Constant State of Anxiety
Low-income people live in a constant state of anxiety because they know they’re one instance away from having nothing to eat, having their essential utilities shut off, or being homeless, says a user in the discussion.
The working poor are one or two paychecks away from financial disaster.
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This thread inspired this post.
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