chickaree wrote: Many of the people I work with are living day to day. One day I talked with a mom who had two dollars to feed her family with that night. The bulk of her paycheck went to pay rent and utilities. She mostly fed her kids with her tips. A bad day meant no dinner. I tried to talk with her about planning a menu, but getting far enough ahead to shop responsibly was utterly beyond her. It's often difficult to appreciate the reality the poor live in. Would education help? Absolutely. Where are they supposed to get it?
Where would they get education? How about 12 years of free public education? Every child in the U.S. is given this opportunity so that they will not lead a life of poverty. Quite a lot of kids and their parents do not take advantage of this great equalizer and do not apply themselves. They fail at a chance for prosperity one day at a time and give a mediocre performance in those 12 years.
Simply put: they get what they have earned, a life of disadvantage. So now we should feel sorry that they have received their well earned failure?
The Economist just came across a study checking on the effects of financial education on the young. It looks like the students who were given money advice didn't retain the knowledge since they didn't need it at the time. Who wants to check out mortgage rules when you think it will be years before you ever buy a house.
Teach adults? Sadly, this was almost as bad. When free economic education is offered to adults before they finance a home, 99% don't bother accessing it. And of the 1% who do partake? Turns out most of those already had interest and knowledge in the area.
Thomas Sowell: There are no solutions, just trade-offs.
