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Comment by hvs | Hacker News Reader

Poverty is a complex issue that requires more than just knee jerk solutions and tossing money at it. I don't know the answer, and I'm not positive that there is an "answer". But I can tell you that people like me have a tendency to tune out when we read things like:

The poor include Nekisha Brooks, 28, of Fort Washington, Md., who lost her job as a customer service representative for AT&T several months ago in a round of layoffs. Raising five young children, she is now on food stamps and partly leaning on friends and family for help.

I know this is just one anecdote, and it is unfortunate that she clearly wants to work and is having trouble finding even semi-skilled labor... but _five_ kids? Seriously?

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This reminds me of a conversation I was having recently with some engaged friends of mine, who are in their early 30s and were worried about whether they were really financially ready to have children yet. Of course they were extremely middle-class and presumably have a combined income well into the six-figure range, but they were still worried about whether they could financially support one kid. And then you've got stuff like this.

Whenever they interview a poor person for one of these sorts of articles, it always seems to be someone who has managed to make some really bad life decisions.

This should make us happy -- it indicates that if you can avoid the following bad lifestyle decisions:

1. Gambling

2. Drugs

3. Excessive alcohol

4. Becoming a single mother

5. Dropping out of high school

then your chances of being poor in America are really extremely low.

Not sure about #4. Single parenthood can sometimes be a choice (e.g. mother with donor), but it's much more likely not to be (e.g. unwilling divorce, death of a partner, teenagers who aren't ready).

Well, the vast majority of cases are caused by failure to use (sufficient) contraception by unmarried couples, which is a bad lifestyle decision. And even for divorce the vast majority of cases are caused by marrying an inappropriate person -- another poor lifestyle decision.

Agree. Leaving aside the obvious issue with the fiscal (in)ability of the parents to care and support for a large number of children, I can't help but view something like this as grossly irresponsible just in terms of population growth, sustainability, and related facets.

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