First, there are many places where the author references children. Yes people in poverty have children, but the points she makes, also assume that the individual is a single parent.
>Cost of an extra hour of childcare to account for the commute time (at $13/hour, as well): $260 per month
>Which equals $800 – and doesn’t take into account the fact that grocery shopping by bus is not ideal for someone with kids in tow.
If you have a partner, both of these scenarios are likely a complete non-issue.
Second, the author uses incredibly avoidable financial decisions as justification as to why poverty is expensive.
>Overdraft fees, late fees on missed bills, high-interest credit card fees, and payday lenders are just a few ways that poverty begets higher expenses. The average payday loan borrower – who is usually short just a few hundred dollars between paychecks – ends up paying more than 300% interest on their initial amount.
Why are these necessary components of poverty? This is making wild assumptions that a payday loan is the only option when short.
>Banks also find ways to capitalize on people without money. Many checking accounts require that a person carry a minimum balance – and fine customers for every month that they don’t meet the requirement.
Checking accounts are free for anyone that can provide a consistent direct deposit, regardless of balance. If the job does not offer a direct deposit, its worth noting that many Credit Unions also offer free checking just for having an account.
>Each year, immigrants pay billions into our tax coffers, only to get the short end of the economic stick.
I would pay to see factual evidence backing this statement up.
I could go on, but this is only halfway through the article...