On the Experience of Being Poor-Ish, for People Who Aren't
I think the biggest threat to poor people, would be the ridiculous housing market. It&#x27;s not just in big expensive cities, it&#x27;s pretty much everywhere. Only places that are being spared, are those in destitute areas with some serious emigration problems - but those things happen for a reason (no work).<p>In my country (Norway), the housing market has appreciated around 5.5% ANNUALLY, compared to annual wage increase of some 2.5%. In some cities, that growth is much higher - almost 8%<p>We have a very decent welfare system, but a spread like that will surely create a hard class-divide between owners and renters. Renters will be forced further away from the cities, having to rely on longer commutes.<p>Some places it&#x27;s already that bad. Certain normal salaried professions can not, and will probably never, be able to own even &quot;starter&quot; homes (as in small apartments), because they need to spend more and more time on saving for the down-payment (15% here) - and once they&#x27;ve reached their original goal, the goalpost have been moved. I&#x27;m talking about professions like teachers, nurses, etc. Not even legit poor people!<p>Having been raised by a poor-ish single mother, I can remember that at least in the 80s&#x2F;90s, there was a lot less debt around. At least here, credit cards and consumer debt wasn&#x27;t being handed out like free candy, back then. You had to rely on your salary, and then either get help from family&#x2F;friends, or the welfare office. My mother had too much pride for that, even though my dads side were loaded.<p>These days, it seems like poor people are also getting trapped in debt. Everything is driven by debt, and every bill you fall behind on, is compounded by some fee, which is applied the second you&#x27;re overdue.<p>I can absolutely understand why many poor people feel complete helplessness and apathy.