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Almost half of US families can't afford basics like rent and food

money.cnn.com

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Re: Almost half of US families can't afford basics like rent and food

#101

Post by algaeontoast »

mach5 wrote: post #11
algaeontoast wrote: post #2

In many of these cases it seems like having kids may have been an ill-advised life choice. Having kids is always a choice not a right.

so only the rich should reproduce? absolutely disgusting mindset. nobody chooses a life of poverty, and the overwhelming inequality of our current society both perpetuates and exacerbates it.

I disagree. It's not fair to create a human when you're on the edge of being able to properly educate, raise and care for said human.

Having sex is a choice, there are risks involved, one of them is pregnancy.

Many people who aren't considered "rich" can raise children and be economically comfortable.

I'd encourage you to ask someone who grew up in poverty or with uneducated parents (who accidentally had children or decided to have four children knowing they couldn't afford it) if they'd willingly put a child through what they went through growing up and I think my point would be crystal clear.

Re: Almost half of US families can't afford basics like rent and food

#102

Post by algaeontoast »

cliffy wrote: post #24
algaeontoast wrote: post #2

In many of these cases it seems like having kids may have been an ill-advised life choice. Having kids is always a choice not a right.

This is a really bizarre position. If reproduction is not a right, then you shouldn't have a problem with the government coming to sterilize you for some arbitrary reason, right? Maybe your skin is not the 'right' color?

I don't. I actually support recent calls for developing a means to give vasectomies (high percentage of which are reversible) to all newborn males. Therefore, having a child is the choice of both the male and female counterparts of a couple. I'd be stunned if more women didn't support this measure...

Re: Almost half of US families can't afford basics like rent and food

#103

Post by chungleong »

sdinsn wrote: post #92
chungleong wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

According to https://www.givingwhatwecan.org , an income of $85,000 in the US would put a household of four in the top 3.5% of the world's population.

Which is irrelevant.

Few things are to the selfish and self-absorbed.

Re: Almost half of US families can't afford basics like rent and food

#104

Post by scruple »

fuzz4lyfe wrote: post #37
skrebbel wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> They end up shuffling between homelessness, homeless programs, and family / friends. 51 million people? A sixth of the US?

51 million households, assuming 4 per household roughly 200 million or 2/3rds. I'm not buying it.

The cohort being reported on here groups single individuals and multi-person familes alongside each other as a household, if I'm understanding correctly.

> ALICE is a United Way acronym which stands for Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed. It represents the growing number of individuals and families who are working but are unable to afford the basic necessities of housing, food, child care, health care, and transportation. [0]

[0]: https://www.oshkoshunitedway.org/ALICE

Re: Almost half of US families can't afford basics like rent and food

#105

Post by dmitriid »

ryanmercer wrote: post #71
dmitriid wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A person on the internet is arguing that a landline with caller ID, call waiting and voicemail is sufficient. > You also don't need payphones to be abundant, From 1990 to 1999 (ages 5-14) I used a payphone maybe a dozen times and nearly all of those were to have discussions with friends that I didn't want my parents to hear so I rode my bike 2 blocks to Little Caesars Ah yes. The needs of a child/teen are surely the…

>Ah yes. The needs of a child/teen are surely the needs of a grown person who will need to communicate with potential employers, banks, landlords, schools etc. I've been working, taxable above the board income (google it, lots of conditions for this including paper delivery which is what I did), since I was 12 years old. I've had a bank account since I was 8. There is no realistic condition where the majority of the…

You somehow missed bothe the last 15 years or so, and the most important bits of my response.

The world is increasingly online. Banks are closing down branches because most things can be done online. Schools are sending school reports and teacher communications via email. Job applications for high(er) paying jobs are becoming almost exclusively done via online forms. Ongoing communication with recruiters is being done via email. Doctors increasingly communicate through email.

More importantly, classes and courses, distance learning, tutors (that is all the things you need to educate yourself and get a better job) are almost exclusively online now (and once online, available and affordable to anyone).

But yeah. If you are a 12-year-old paper delivery boy, you will not need a smart phone and internet.

Edit: your hypocrisy is especially rich considering that you're applying to YC Winter 2019 [1]. You're sending them via a fixed landline from Little Ceasars where you biked, right?

[1] https://www.ryanmercer.com/ryansthoughts/2018/10/30/an-open-...

(Your site is in your profile).

Re: Almost half of US families can't afford basics like rent and food

#106

Post by RhysU »

dsfyu404ed wrote: post #84
ryanmercer wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Define "care" If you can't put a roof over their head, and feed them, you probably shouldn't have had them. Multiple people I went to high school with have children they outright can not afford, they couldn't afford the first, or the second, one has 5 children and has been receiving government assistance (and regular handouts as food distribution from her Church) since the first was born. This sort of thing is not u…

I generally agree with your sentiment but I think you're going a little too far when you say poor people shouldn't have kids. Yes, a disturbing amount of the time it just results in them leaching off society but most of them turn out fine. Nobody is ever "financially prepared" to have kids anyway. They suck up all your money if you let them.

I was financially prepared to have kids. Letting one's kids "suck up all" one's money is my definition of not being prepared, medical emergencies aside.

Re: Almost half of US families can't afford basics like rent and food

#107

Post by sys_64738 »

shijie wrote: post #35

This is quite a disingenuous title for CNN. The actual study reference in the article (and not even directly, one must go to the linked website and dig around for it) identifies a new subgroup of the US population that are "asset-limited, income-constrained, and employed," or ALICE. Nowhere does it say in the study that these people cannot afford rent and food. These people's financial stability is more tenuous, yes,…

"asset-limited, income-constrained, and employed"

AKA have no savings and have minimum wage jobs. The USA needs universal healthcare for all.

Re: Almost half of US families can't afford basics like rent and food

#108

Post by CuriouslyC »

mitchty wrote: post #57
CuriouslyC wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you can't care for your child, you shouldn't have one. The natural order is that children from unfit parents die. There are too many humans on this planet as it is. If you're impoverished in your thirties, it is probably the result of a long history of poor life choices. You can get dealt a horrible hand with lots of tragedy and disadvantages and still be able to make it on your own in your thirties, as long as yo…

> If you can't care for your child, you shouldn't have one. The natural order is that children from unfit parents die. There are too many humans on this planet as it is. So... wow, thats one hell of a logic leap. Ignoring how close this is to progressive attitudes in the early 20th century, what about "happy accidents". This is a rather to be blunt disgusting attitude to our fellow humans. > If you're impoverished in…

If you can't afford it, a happy accident should become a happy abortion.

I came from about as broken a home as you can imagine. I dropped out of high school. I lived on the streets. I went back to college to try and escape my situation. I spent 8 hours a day in the computer lab, working on my skills. I slept in tents and on couches so I could focus on my education and get ahead. Don't talk to me about privilege.

People have the ability to be strong. Coddling and enabling keep them weak. We should help people when they are hit by random, extreme circumstances. We should mostly let them struggle when they're dealing with basic life shit.

Re: Almost half of US families can't afford basics like rent and food

#109

Post by CuriouslyC »

mach5 wrote: post #67
CuriouslyC wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you can't care for your child, you shouldn't have one. The natural order is that children from unfit parents die. There are too many humans on this planet as it is. If you're impoverished in your thirties, it is probably the result of a long history of poor life choices. You can get dealt a horrible hand with lots of tragedy and disadvantages and still be able to make it on your own in your thirties, as long as yo…

complete conjecture, there is a giant cohort of people older than 30, crushed by debt and medical bills, stuck in menial jobs because their parents couldn't afford college. you're telling me that the janitor that cleans your office isn't hard working? or the factory-worker that makes your clothes? are they all just lazy morons that don't deserve to reproduce? please, just go mask-off, be true to yourself, and admit y…

Bankruptcy is a good way to deal with crushing medical debt.

You can go to a community college for next to nothing, while sharing a room with several other people, and eating ramen and microwave burritos, then cover a good portion of the costs with a Pell grant, food stamps and some needs based scholarships. After a few years, you can transfer to a 4 year university for a profitable major, take out student loans and complete your degree (this should be doable for 16-24 grand). You might have to work part time to pull this off but not more than 1-2 days a week.

I don't think there are many valid excuses for being unsuccessful beyond your early 30s.

I am ok with the death and suffering of children if it avoids more death and suffering later.

Re: Almost half of US families can't afford basics like rent and food

#110

Post by dang »

algaeontoast wrote: post #2

In many of these cases it seems like having kids may have been an ill-advised life choice. Having kids is always a choice not a right.

Please don't take HN threads further into flamewar. You created a doozy here.

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

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