Is poverty ever someone’s own fault? Or is the government always to blame?

Question

Here in the UK we’re dealing with a cost of living crisis and people are extremely angry with the Conservative party who are in charge of the UK right now.
Some people who are better off will argue that it you are poor it’s because you haven’t worked hard enough or are lazy.
Do you think sometimes if someone is poor it actually is their own doing, or is government always to blame?

Answer

There are plenty of systemic issues which keep people who experience poverty in that position. There are plenty of personal issues which could contribute as well, such as physical and mental illness. Our society (America) is not set up in such a way as to provide adequate support for individuals experiencing poverty. 
In my study and work with individuals, I have never met someone who wanted to be impoverished. I have met many who did not get the support needed to improve their situation

Answer

It depends. Poor financial decisions, living beyond one’s means, not seeking proper employment, not saving money, etc is an individual’s fault. However, the government’s decisions can influence prices so I can see how they are sometimes to blame

Answer

It’s difficult to talk in absolutes. There’s always going to be exceptions like that reality show lady who lost her fortune apocalypse prepping. It was just bad decision after bad decision. 
Overall though, no. It’s mostly a combination of luck and systematic factors that determine financial success. I’m less familiar with the UK, but in the US generational wealth inequality is very real. It’s incredibly difficult to break out of, and those who do are typically exceptional in some way. We’re the only generation since WWII to do worse than our parents despite being collectively more educated and working more hours. Wealth inequality also disproportionately effects PoC. Anyone who believes the reason racial minorities hold less wealth is because they less hard working is just a straight up racist.
The cost of living crises is a global problem. The inflation is mostly caused by pandemic profiting by large companies. While the housing crises dates back to the 2008 recession. New housing didn’t get built, and existing property got snatched up by investors. Now we’re living with the consequences. Plus in the UK you have all the Brexit fallout to deal with. 
We can’t blame any of this on a single leader. Especially not a PM who has been in what, three days now? What we can say with confidence though is that Conservative policy does not usually help poor and working class people, while leaning heavily into blaming them for not trying hard enough. Here in the U.S. we have the Reagan administration as precedent. Trickle down economics was a lie, and again we’re living with the consequences. If I’m not mistaken Thatcher tried some similar policies, and they did not go much better. 😬

Answer

There are so many factors and reasons and things that contribute that it can vary so much the reason why people are in poverty. I worked several jobs but lived in my car for 2.5 yrs because I couldn't afford rent. I couldn't afford rent because I was in college and prioritized paying as much tuition as I could with all my other bills because I was with zero financial help. I often met people living in their cars who had careers but where we lived has a very high cost of living amd no rent control. A person could be told that their rent is doubling in 30 days and if you can't afford it and can't find a last min apartment you see homeless. Medical issues come up and can totally wipe bank accounts, savings, and all investments. A job loss at a bad time. A divorce or death of a spouse. Generational issues...my family was poor. Like have not met many people in the usa poorer than us poor so not like I had any help at all. Which my parents both had jobs but my dad was a farmer. We had 1 horrible crop year followed by historical rain and he had to sink everything into trying to stay afloat which meant loans and debt and took 25 yrs to get his head above water. Some people male bad choice out of ignorance or being mislead. Some people have issues with mental health or addiction. And yes some people are lazy and just don't want to work and are fine with debt and always being on that verge of bad. But more often than not most people who are truly struggling amd stressed about money and consider themselves poor isn't because they woke up one day and said "yep fuck it...I'm gonna be poor." There is often many factors. And noy everyone who is "poor" by like poverty line levels feel that way. I am comfortable making less rhan others because I live a sinple life and nnow what true povery os to me. That varies a lot person to person. My husbands fanily is rich...like super duper rich so what he considered poor, especially at the start of our relationship, was very different. But my family vacations were the free county campgrounds and his were 4 weeks in a private overwater villa in the maldives via private jet they own. But same as there are many factors that lead people to be poor it can be the same for wealth. Family, luck, connections, hard work, opportunities, loss, etc all contribute to wealth you can't just decide one day yep I want more money so I just get it. Life has to happen and life is rarely linear or black and white. A lot of things contribute to it.

Answer

The phrase 'we all have the same 24 hours' is like this.
No poverty is not someones fault, just like you do not all have the same 24 hours in a day. 
Rishi Sunak portrayed himself as a low level immigrant, he was not. His fanily was rich when they came over to the UK and so was his wifes fanily. There is old money and new money, their is a difference. 
I am well off, my household is probably less affected than other people. But I still want labour. Me and my partner dont mind paying more tax for our NHS but not for the pockets of the tories.
No poverty is never the persons fault. 
I was a 16 year old single mum with no support. How can you be expected to invest money if you are living pay cheque to pay cheque with the bare minimum? How are you expected to earn a wage when a job here doesnt cover the childcare costs for one child let alone 2 or 3.

Answer

No, it’s never someone’s fault. There is a difference between not having a lot of money and being in poverty. No one should be in poverty. The government should have the appropriate safety net services to avoid someone from being so financially poor that they cannot afford basic necessities. The existence of poverty means there is a flaw in the system.

Answer

Tale as old as time: the rich and powerful will blame you for the illness and poverty that is a result of the system they created.

Answer

I've already posted but I had another thought.  Poverty is often accompanied by intergenerational trauma and a lack of access to mental health resources often compounds that and makes it difficult to break those generational cycles.

Answer

I don’t believe people are lazy, at all.
Some time ago, when the liberals were in power in my province they piloted a basic guaranteed income in a town.  And guess what..people who were part of the pilot not only continued working, but many actually were able to get better positions and increase their salaries.  When the conservative government came into power they scrapped it…though at the time I believe over 70% of Canadians were for this. 
Financial stress impacts us, not only mentally and emotionally, but physically too.  It takes money to make money.  I truly do not believe anyone needs to be in poverty, especially in rich countries and I blame the governments, the people who vote for them, politicians, big business and religion for poverty continuing to exist.

Answer

I think it's both...
Our government is not set-up to help people get out of poverty, it's to keep them poor.
On the other hand ,it can be someone's own fault. I have an Uncle who has a PHD is fully capable of working,is offered great paying jobs. Yet,he chooses to be very mediocre in life and not do better for himself.

Is poverty ever someone’s own fault? Or is the government always to blame?

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