>This is a really out-of-touch perspective. One's ability to gain knowledge and skills is determined by the amount of free time they have when not working

She spends something like 4 hours a day on most days on the bus. That's plenty of time to read.

>Lifting oneself out of poverty is not easy to do here

My family came from poverty. It's easy to do if you come from a culture which values self improvement. I know it's unpopular to say, but most poor people are poor for reasons related to their genes, personality and upbringing, not because of the system. Just as cream rises, the lower end of the bell curve tends to fall, and no amount of education or financial assistance is going to change the distribution of achievement in society.

That doesn't mean we shouldn't have a safety net to help those who are in need, but our expectations should be grounded when we consider allocation of scarce resources.