I'm in the same boat as you, and I got out, and I have / had the same opinions as you.
My sister still is in the poverty cycle. Got pregnant at 16 and have been having to deal with child rearing (along with a partner, and later, 2 more kids) which I'm starting to appreciate the difficulty in her getting out of the mess
(I have a my own kid now, no time for life improvement! I've got to work and then clean and make dinner!)
Not only that, but her partner is abusive, they have smoking and alcohol habits, and the only refuge they have is spending some paycheck on getting a new Xbox for the kids, seeming they broke the last one.
Not only that, but their real estate agent is literally saying "send us a extra $1000 for water bill this month or we'll kick you out" - so they just pay, even when I tell them not to because there's no legal requirement if there's no invoice to say what you're paying, and it's not on the lease agreement.. they don't have the time to understand the law and get help..
This is all to say, it can be tough for people. Yes some/most of it might be their own doing, but they have more to undo, because they made silly mistakes earlier, and it's very difficult for people to think of anything past second-order effects, let alone first-order..
That being said we're on an upward trend for her :), I'm helping her out even if she gets annoyed at my lecturing (some of it is sticking, and the kids are definitely staying in school at all costs! :)
My sister still is in the poverty cycle. Got pregnant at 16 and have been having to deal with child rearing (along with a partner, and later, 2 more kids) which I'm starting to appreciate the difficulty in her getting out of the mess
(I have a my own kid now, no time for life improvement! I've got to work and then clean and make dinner!)
Not only that, but her partner is abusive, they have smoking and alcohol habits, and the only refuge they have is spending some paycheck on getting a new Xbox for the kids, seeming they broke the last one.
Not only that, but their real estate agent is literally saying "send us a extra $1000 for water bill this month or we'll kick you out" - so they just pay, even when I tell them not to because there's no legal requirement if there's no invoice to say what you're paying, and it's not on the lease agreement.. they don't have the time to understand the law and get help..
This is all to say, it can be tough for people. Yes some/most of it might be their own doing, but they have more to undo, because they made silly mistakes earlier, and it's very difficult for people to think of anything past second-order effects, let alone first-order..
That being said we're on an upward trend for her :), I'm helping her out even if she gets annoyed at my lecturing (some of it is sticking, and the kids are definitely staying in school at all costs! :)