Why do people choose to be poor?

Answer 1

While the concept that some people actually choose to be poor is hard to fathom, or even offensive to some people, there are actually a number of reasons why a person would choose to be poor. The reasons include:

Religious reasons - Some take vows of poverty or give up what they have to help other people. Mother Theresa is one such example. She decided to help the poor people by living among them and being poor.

Freedom - In a number of ways, those living in poverty have more freedom. If you don't have a regular job, a house, a car, things to break, a family, and so on, you can experience a type of freedom that few know.

Substance abuse - This is more of an indirect choice. It isn't that substance abusers choose to be homeless or poor, but more that they choose their drug of choice first. They may choose to use whatever drug or beverage first, but as addiction creeps over them, they no longer have a choice.

Waste - Some people struggle to make ends meet because of waste and excess. Leaving the lights on when you are not in the room, leaving the air conditioner on when you are gone, having multiple cell phone contracts, and having multiple televisions playing are examples of waste and excess. If you are poor, you should not be engaging in behaviors that require money. If you are struggling, try to have no more than one phone service, avoid Cable Television, and find ways to entertain yourself which don't require money.

Unwise sexual activity - If you are poor or struggling, you shouldn't be having much sex. Sex may be fun, but if you are too poor to use protection to prevent pregnancy, you are also too poor to pay for abortion or even a child. If you are too poor to use protection, you are also too poor to pay for treating STDs.

Poor planning - Poor planning would also include an example where a woman was given an extremely low rent, compliments of a government program. All she had to do was pay $2 a month. In fact, it would have been wise to pay $24 once a year. However, she still missed the rent payments even though she had the money to pay them, and she ended up paying much more in fines for each fine than she was expected to pay in a whole year.