Time poverty is a totally real and utterly overlooked hindrance
Being poor is expensive
Submitted 11 hours ago by VetOfTheSeas@discuss.online to workreform@lemmy.world
https://discuss.online/pictrs/image/84681b0b-d1f9-46f4-9259-edb5f52d8e54.jpeg
Comments
jenings@lemmy.world 45 minutes ago
brucethemoose@lemmy.world 6 hours ago
You know what’s also wild?
Paying for a blue checkmark on Twitter.
orbitz@lemmy.ca 48 minutes ago
Okay maybe I missed the Terry Prachett quote, but he wrote (paraphrasing) basically buying an awesome pair of boots that last takes decent coin, the people who need boots to last that long can never afford them so pay more for multiple cheap ones. Again paraphrased, but maybe it’ll encourage more people to read him, think I read a few years ago but anytime anyone quotes him sounds worthwhile.
If this was said, I apologize, sort of quickly scrolled to check so may have missed. But seriously why do we make things so expensive to be less well off? Sounds downright stupid, unless you’re making the dough I imagine. We should be making sure people can live comfortably especially with multiple jobs (though again not my preferred outcome, why should anyone need to work more than one full time job anyway?)
I just wish people could be comfortable with a single job even as a single parent if they need or would like to raise a kid. Though also think we’re a tad overpopulated but that’s not this discussion and still think if we allow it as a society then it should be possible as a single parent.
I am no kids person for the record, dated some mothers over the years but currently a dink (dual income no kids) more an 80s term.
Dry_Monk@lemmy.world 18 minutes ago
The original, excellent passage:
The reason that the rich were so rich, Vimes reasoned, was because they managed to spend less money.
Take boots, for example. He earned thirty-eight dollars a month plus allowances. A really good pair of leather boots cost fifty dollars. But an affordable pair of boots, which were sort of OK for a season or two and then leaked like hell when the cardboard gave out, cost about ten dollars. Those were the kind of boots Vimes always bought, and wore until the soles were so thin that he could tell where he was in Ankh-Morpork on a foggy night by the feel of the cobbles.
But the thing was that good boots lasted for years and years. A man who could afford fifty dollars had a pair of boots that’d still be keeping his feet dry in ten years’ time, while the poor man who could only afford cheap boots would have spent a hundred dollars on boots in the same time and would still have wet feet.
chiliedogg@lemmy.world 8 hours ago
Being poor is super expensive. When you don’t have enough money in your bank account they’ll charge you a monthly fee. When you’re too poor to have an account, you have to go to a check cashing place and pay to get paid. Too poor to have awesome credit? You have to pay higher interest fees and larger deposits.
coolie4@lemmy.world 7 hours ago
I’ve never understood check cashing places.
I thought people only went to them because they didn’t want to wait for checks to clear, or they didn’t want a paper trail on a checking account, because it would get automatically garnished for child support.
Are you saying that someone could actually be so poor that a bank will refuse them from opening a checking account? What risk is there to the bank if it goes empty?
HertzDentalBar@lemmy.blahaj.zone 6 hours ago
Credit Unions for example require a share purchase usually so while it’s usually quite small some people can’t afford to loose even $5.
Sometimes it’s also debt, guy owes his normal bank a fuckload of money so uses the cash checking to cash his check, he might lose a bit in fees but it’s probably less than what the bank would of taken. I’ve seen alot of contractors in this situation.
DagwoodIII@piefed.social 6 hours ago
One thing is financial literacy.
A lot of people come from a cycle of poverty where no one around them can explain why it’s a good idea to have a bank account.
Also, there are predatory banks that demand minimum amounts to start any account. If you don’t have $200.00 to start an account it’s hard to start an account.
Back in the day, banks encouraged little kids to start bank accounts with just a few dollars. I had a bank book when I was 12. Those days are long gone. I went to Bank of America with a check from a BOA account and they wanted to charge me. I could wait to get to my own bank, but other folks wouldn’t have that option.
chiliedogg@lemmy.world 7 hours ago
They don’t want to risk people overdrafting and just changing banks.
jdr@lemmy.ml 7 hours ago
There’s not a high risk of making much money off then, so it’s considered a waste of time and resources
starelfsc2@sh.itjust.works 10 hours ago
Same with being disabled, growing up I thought disabled people just got helped by everyone in society with everything. Turns out most of the time it’s “do what you were doing before except harder.”
Syndication@lemmy.today 9 hours ago
Or if you’re too mentally ill and in so much pain that working is hard but society deems you worthless
Trex202@lemmy.world 8 hours ago
Capitalism deems them unexploitable, they still have worth in society
jdr@lemmy.ml 7 hours ago
The secret is to already have a job that doesn’t notice you’re not working
wizardbeard@lemmy.dbzer0.com 11 hours ago
Waiting for buses and other public transport especially. In college I had no car and continued working a part time job that I previously borrowed my parents’ car to commute to. My options were: spending an hour and a half to commute taking a bus with a reasonable schedule but I’d have to walk over a mile alongside a busy road to my job, or spend three hours to commute due to how two route schedules matched up to drop me off at the entrance to the shopping center.
Each of those options was one way, and this was before smart phones. I wasn’t getting anything done in that time besides listening to music and maybe reading a book while on the bus itself.
And then I learned that on Saturdays, over half the time the bus just didn’t fucking show up at the stop where I got on, and the support phone line would just fucking lie about it.
Plus, if I had a vehicle, the commute would have been only 20 minutes in bad traffic.
Will say, the regular distance power walking helped keep me in great shape though.
Rhaedas@fedia.io 11 hours ago
I wonder how infrastructure would change if companies were required to reimburse valid claims of mileage or time spent (not the bus/train fare, but paying your wage for the time spent to get to work).
robotica@lemmy.world 8 hours ago
According to a video I’ve seen, actors get paid for their commutes
vrek@programming.dev 11 hours ago
I had a job 2.5 miles from my apartment. There is a bus stop on the corner of my apartment, there is a bus stop next to the job. According to the website it was 3 hours to commute by bus to get there…
Whats_your_reasoning@lemmy.world 10 hours ago
I wouldn’t be surprised if that bus included connections to other lines on top of it all.
Dookieman12@piefed.social 10 hours ago
This is what I point out whenever someone tries to tell me, “The only fair thing in life is everyone gets 24 hours in a day.”
That doesn’t mean shit when someone with a private jet can be on a different continent in hours.
EggInDisguise@lemmy.blahaj.zone 9 hours ago
“We all have the same 24 hours in a day”
I fucking hate that saying so much. I’ve started telling people just because you and everyone else at the marathon might have the same 23 miles to go, when 9/10 of you are shackled to a heavy steel ball, and at least half are dragging 2 or 3, then that distance means fuck all.
red_tomato@lemmy.world 9 hours ago
A marathon isn’t that hard. Just buy a car!
AdolfSchmitler@lemmy.world 6 hours ago
Someone to prepare your meals and do your shopping and run your kids around. All of these things take time that adds up in a week.
OctopusNemeses@lemmy.world 2 hours ago
That’s a marker of the upwardly mobile. At some point they reach a threshold of wealth where they can be paying other people for their time.
Those who stay poor might look at them like they’re spending money recklessly to pay for the help. They don’t realize the financial crossover that’s happening.
AngryRedHerring@lemmy.world 1 hour ago
And the mecical bills one accrues for treatment of the ailments that are brought on by an immune system weakened by constant stress.
cymbal_king@lemmy.world 6 hours ago
The SiFi movie “In Time” staring Justin Timberlake is meh quality wise, but the premise is really interesting… That the currency of that universe is the time someone has left to live. They do an interesting job playing with how wealth inequality changes behavior of people with and without time to spare
Zephorah@discuss.online 10 hours ago
The time theft has a far reach. I’ve worked with kids who’ve gone inpatient for mental health, acting out in school, etc. Why? Because mom isn’t there. It’s not willful neglect. It’s neglect through not neglecting her motherly duties by working 2-3 jobs to keep the lights on and shoes on her child’s feet.
Time is a key reason we need to be paid more, have a much higher minimum wage, though it isn’t often mentioned.
Rivalarrival@lemmy.today 6 hours ago
Minimum wage isn’t going to cut it anymore. We need UBI.
Democracy is the idea that political authority is derived from the people. The government’s power to levy taxes and conduct its business is taken from We The People; We The People should be fairly compensated for the use of that power. We should each be paid a citizenship dividend of 75% of the current poverty level, before we put a single hour on the clock.
sportsjorts@lemmy.zip 10 hours ago
Poverty is more expensive than anything any millionaire or billionaire could buy. Fuck the rich.
Catoblepas@lemmy.blahaj.zone 11 hours ago
I’ve known people to be on hold for 6-8 hours for multiple days with the local food stamp office without being able to get in touch with anyone. At one point the automatic message when you called was ‘too many people are calling, hang up.’
vrek@programming.dev 10 hours ago
The other thing is how expensive being poor is. Laundry is like 3 dollars a load last I checked. Buy cheap shoes, expect them to last 6 months max. There are food options if you have time to cook but combined with the original poster you won’t and you don’t have transportation so delivery is only option…
Whats_your_reasoning@lemmy.world 10 hours ago
$3 a load? Whoa.
It takes about $17 for a single load at the laundromats near me, both washing and drying. Going once a week, that’s over $800 a year.
Which is one reason I’ve started washing clothes in a 5-gallon (about 19 liters) bucket at home. It sucks, but it saves me money and I get a work out from it. I’d like to get a small machine, but where I live it wouldn’t be safe to have packages sitting outside all day and I try to avoid big box stores, so I feel pretty screwed.
vrek@programming.dev 1 hour ago
Wtf 17 dollars? The laundry mats around me are like 3 dollars to wash and free dry.
Capybara_mdp@reddthat.com 8 hours ago
You might want to look into “portable washing machines” - they’re under 100$ comes in a small box and are good for things like socks and undies. Regarding the packages, if they are shipping with ups, theres a service where you can choose an alternative delivery location, usually a place like a corner store, or with fedex, a print shop.
ayyy@sh.itjust.works 7 hours ago
Is there an Amazon Locker near you? Those are pretty handy for safe package holding.
kreskin@lemmy.world 1 hour ago
Another thing about being poor is that once you get a bit of money its like pouring water onto a desert because of all the deferred things. Clothes, car, debt, dentist, medical care, shoes. The hole people get in is deeper than it looks. A few thousand can evaporate disappointingly quickly.
Formfiller@lemmy.world 2 hours ago
It’s by design
AeonFelis@lemmy.world 6 hours ago
Much of it is a deliberate business strategy. The lower priced options waste more time to deter those able to afford more expensive alternatives from using them.
HertzDentalBar@lemmy.blahaj.zone 6 hours ago
I’m going to just say whole I fully agree with the sentiment, Transit needs to not be looked at as a part of poverty. Alot of cities have transit used by all walks of life.
humanamerican@lemmy.zip 6 hours ago
I’m gonna guess the poster is in the US. In most of this country, bus=poor because in most of this country the bus service is so shitty that only people who can’t afford a car will use it.
HertzDentalBar@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 hours ago
I feel so bad for Americans.
4grams@awful.systems 9 hours ago
It really is time we figure out how to level the playing field.
humanamerican@lemmy.zip 9 hours ago
Step 1: general strike.
JetpackJackson@feddit.org 8 hours ago
How if we can’t get time to strike, and can’t save enough to survive without income?
HubertManne@piefed.social 8 hours ago
I feel this. I need to send out resumes but more than half my time is doing other things and this list is I would say a pretty decent list of what sucks up the time. Whats funny is our society has all this potential labor but we rather it go to waste and atriphy.
birdwing@lemmy.blahaj.zone 10 hours ago
Waiting for buses is not poverty. Being in traffic jams and stuck to using a car is, however.
Catoblepas@lemmy.blahaj.zone 9 hours ago
Sorry, what?? Taking the bus is cheaper than owning a car.
HubertManne@piefed.social 8 hours ago
taking the bus is cheaper than owning a car. I actually took the statement to more mean that you have to go to places like the assitance office in person and its located whereever which for some means some crazy transfers and such that makes it an all day and long day affair.
5ibelius9insterberg@feddit.org 9 hours ago
Besides the point. Having no choice but to wait for the hourly bus could be one of the many time stealers of your poor.
birdwing@lemmy.blahaj.zone 9 hours ago
… buses don’t come hourly there. They come far more often.
Smaile@lemmy.ca 5 hours ago
People really do like rediscovering fire don’t they. no shit, its a treadmill to keep you busy and keep you from growing or finding other sources of income, its to keep you under socitys thumb
Kekzkrieger@feddit.org 9 hours ago
I for one like public transport, where i live its often faster than driving yourself. Plus driving costs more (parking fees, gas etc…) while public transport is a rather cheap annual subscription.
FiniteBanjo@feddit.online 7 hours ago
I usually choose the bus over my own vehicle regardless, and Laundromats are generally too expensive unless you’ve got greasers or can pay to have your laundry done for you.
DagwoodIII@piefed.social 6 hours ago
greasers ?
I’ve seen that term used for some White youth and also Mexicans.
What does it mean here?
FiniteBanjo@feddit.online 3 hours ago
Greasers in reference to laundry are a colloquial term for rags and clothes covered in Grease such as Petrol, Motor Oil, etc.
You have to take them to a Laundromat that allows them because they will damage or cause residential washers and dryers to stick or smell.
Gentryfried@feddit.uk 11 hours ago
Start a homestead in the wilderness, every moment spent goes towards your goals
DagwoodIII@piefed.social 10 hours ago
A working horse; one who is trained to pull a plow, costs a minimum of $3,000.00 in the USA today. Also, there’s no such thing as ‘wilderness.’ There’s plenty of uncultivated land, but it’s all owned by the government or private interests who would be averse to you showing up and planting crops.
I suggest you go to the local library and get access to the interwebs, so you can check the facts before you start making silly suggestions.
floofloof@lemmy.ca 8 hours ago
Just get a small loan of a few million from your parents. Honestly, why don’t more of the poor think of this?
Dookieman12@piefed.social 10 hours ago
Facts and nuance don’t mean anything when you’re an angry little teenaged shit on the internet.
Doom@lemmy.world 10 hours ago
So destroy more forest to grow food for one person? May I suggest an alternative. We protect the little forest that remains and instead relax zoning laws to allow people to grow food on the countless acres of grassy yard space/land we already have. Grass is an outdated non native crop originally grown by rich assholes as a staus symbol to say “I have so much I do not need to use my land for anything productive.”
RoquetteQueen@sh.itjust.works 9 hours ago
You don’t have to tear down a forest to grow food. There are far more options out there for growing food than conventional modern farming.
NaibofTabr@infosec.pub 6 hours ago
If you believe it’s that simple, you should look into it.
The biggest problems are water access and soil quality. Generally speaking, all of the land that is good for farming is not wilderness, it’s aldeady owned and in use by somebody. If you have to spend money to irrigate and more money to make the soil into something that can grow food, you’ll be broke long before you’re self-sustaining.
lyrial@anarchist.nexus 5 hours ago
And, spoiler alert; even if you manage to get kand with water access, you are going to go through hell to get the rights to use that water in any meaningful way. Try something as simple as rain water collection with mout the rights? Best case is a massive fine.
AlboTheGuy@feddit.nl 5 hours ago
Time is money to money is time
Sparky@lemmy.today 5 hours ago
Better living is brought about by better technology, not having more money
remon@ani.social 7 hours ago
Lemminary@lemmy.world 18 minutes ago
If I’ve learned anything, it’s that bad public transportation is a conscious choice by the government.