It is not easy being poor. "Anyone who has struggled with poverty knows how extremely expensive it is to be poor". - James Baldwin. But why is it expensive to be poor? Here's some frustrating truth of why :
Let's start with our everyday needs. If we go to a supermarket now, it says that buying large amount of goods will save you more money, but because we live from paycheck to paycheck we can only afford to buy that will only last until we are compensated again. Since we are forced to buy small items, we end up paying more. What else? A study shows that in the past 2 decades, luxury items such as smartphones & other gadgets got cheaper & cheaper. Meanwhile, prices of everyday needs like foods, housing & education have only been going up, up & up. In short, rich people can afford more of what they don't really need while, poor people can no longer afford what they really need. Since we can't afford those things, we engage ourselves & suffer from higher interest loans which we have no choice but to get, we are also getting fined by banks just for storing money below the minimum balance. We are being drowned in huge debts for hospital bills and other big emergencies. The late payments, disconnections & other bills also bring more fines. The painful truth is that when we're poor, we look for a certain way so we're getting judged & isolated from life changing chances.
Truth be told, our chance of a good life starts going down even before we get to make our own decision. If you're born with a darker skin color, if you happen to have a poor parents, if your parents live in a poor country, if your poor country is led by corrupt leaders & if your corrupt leaders failed to enact laws for good health care, education & job then you have no privilege in having a good life.