Growing up I remember hearing the phrase "We don't have the money" constantly, to the point that as a young child I learned to look at price tags before asking for anything. My mom would see me and ask if I wanted that, especially around Christmas when looking to see what I wanted, and I would tell her no. She asked why a lot and I would say it was too expensive, to this day I have a hard time buying anything for myself if I can find it cheaper or can do without.
I do not know how much we could really afford, and how much my dad just did not want to spend. Though I do remember one occasion, when we were on vacation with our Girl Scout troop and I had to use my birthday money to pay for gas to get us home or we would have been stranded. My mom told me that I would get my money back but I never saw any of the money.
China
I spent a summer in China, and saw a lot of poverty. Many people think that since they are communist that they make sure everyone is taken care of, but part of the laws of are that you only have rights in the province you are born in. So if you move to a bigger city to make a better life for your family you no longer have the benefits of the government, including that your children can't go to school.
I saw many homeless families begging on the streets, who had moved from farm areas to the city to get better jobs.
Hello Tonya,
ReplyDeleteI think all of us at some point in our life has experience poverty, but sometimes it is hard to shake memories. It is okay to do for yourself and I pray that you get to that stage to purchase things for yourself.
Hi Tonya!
ReplyDeleteI recently found out while talking to my mom that when I was young, our family actually qualified for assistance (food stamps) but we never used it. My dad was a police officer in our tiny town and my mom stayed home with us. As kids, we never knew that we were struggling to make ends meet. I my mind and memories, mom and dad made sure that we had everything we needed and most of the things we wanted. Now I know that most of the time they did without so that we could have things. I find myself doing the same thing now...I won't buy things for myself because I rationalize in my mind that I could do something for my family instead. It is a very hard emotion to overcome...you almost feel guilty when you buy something or do something for yourself.
If the people in China lose their government benefits when they leave their province, why would they move at all? Are the benefits in China comparable to here in the US?
They leave their province looking for better jobs, the ones who leave are very poor generally working farms or the worst jobs available. The benefits in their province could be the worst schools and medical available, they leave looking for better opportunities.
DeleteTonya,
ReplyDeleteOur first au pair (nanny) Emma was from Sweden, which is considered by many (including her) as a welfare state. We would often talk about how her sister would not work, not out of lack of jobs, but out of sheer laziness, and the state (Government) would take care of her living expenses and childcare. This attitude infuriated Emma, who believed everyone who could work, should work. These socialist countries have some of the lowest rates of childhood poverty in the world.
According to a 2012 UNICEF report (http://www.unicef-irc.org/), the United States has the second highest rate of childhood poverty among developed nations, only just behind Romania. This is unacceptable. According to the National Center for Children in Poverty (http://nccp.org/publications/pub_1049.html) reports that in 2010, 15 million U.S. children live with families whose incomes are below the federal poverty level of $22,050 a year for a family of four.
I was pretty stunned when I saw these statistics. Children are the most impacted by and least able to do anything about poverty.
I hope you had a blessed Easter weekend.
Cheers,
Jeff
This post could have been written by me! My parents would always say it cost too much, you don't need that, let me think about it, let's look some more; it was to the point that I stopped asking for anything. I too use to get birthday money and my parents would "borrow" from me and I never got it back. Unlike you, I am an impulse shopper because I was so use to my parents saying no. Unfortunately poverty is everywhere and I doubt if it disappears anytime soon.
ReplyDelete