What is poor?

[i-need-a-martini]

There was a really interesting article in todays SMH about how many of us think we are poor which is far from the reality.

I grew up in a migrant household where my dad worked 6 days a week and sometimes 2 jobs to keep us fed and housed. More often than not our food was basic and heating in winter was a luxury. But it never occurred to me that we were poor. I thought we were middle class.

So what is poor? ?:|

The last line of the article sums it up for me: 

Which brings us to the other side effect of our collective crying poor: it makes it easier to look past the struggles of those who are genuinely struggling. When you're declaring social bankruptcy over drinking cleanskin wine instead of $17 cocktails, catching the night bus home instead of a taxi, or having to skip out on your friend's destination wedding – indeed, when this becomes your vision of what “poverty” looks like – there is a little less room in your heart for those for whom poverty means having no choice at all.

http://www.dailylife.com.au/news-and-views/dl-opinion/is-there-such-a-thing-as-the-privileged-poor-2...

(And please don't make this a political thread cause it has nothing to do with the freaking carbon tax)

[catsnknots]

Both my parents are Danish... been here for 50 plus years now.... 

I was born here..... 🙂

[catsnknots]

My mum was born during the occupation... 

in fact on doing a bit of reading I realised my mum was born in 1940 so she would have arrived about 5 months after the occupation of Denmark commenced... 

My dad would have been around 6 yrs old. 

[cherry*135]

Poor would be living in substandard housing, not enough nutritional food, no heating, no new clothes, no car.

[azureline**]

I can honestly say we were poor when I was a small child. My father abandoned my mother and 4 children aged under 4 (and expecting another.) He lost his job and just walked away.

My grandparents took us home with them after 2 weeks,  living on turnips, apparently. The baby was given up for adoption.

We had very little growing up, until my mother remarried when I was 10, although she worked 2 jobs to support us until then. My grandparents paid our Catholic school fees.

We have been without during our marriage, we lived without electricity or running water, on a 40 acre block fairly isolated. I would not say we were poor then though. We had the basics, we chose to live there, it was not until the eldest started school that we moved away.

[happyroo_bunji]

poor to me is not enough money to buy food or to afford to live in a habitable house and not being able to pay for electricity.

[meh_too]

I thought we were poor growing up, then I went to the UK and met my OH's family and realised we were not poor at all.  At least we (all 10 of us) had our own beds.

[polksaladallie]

A mother and two babies, living temporarily in someone else's house, no money, no income, no car, no family help, no child care centres, etc.

Does this qualify?

[purple.cow]

Poor would be living in substandard housing, not enough nutritional food, no heating, no new clothes, no car.

Being poor is when you have NO food, and NO roof over your head, and NO hope of making it better.

There is no-one like that in Australia.

[i-need-a-martini]

Walked around the lowlier parts of the city of Sydney in the early mornings any time lately moorna?

[purple.cow]

Walked around the lowlier parts of the city of Sydney in the early mornings any time lately moorna?

Yes, I have as a matter of fact, and didn't find one single example of what being poor really is there.

THEY ALL EAT and have clothing etc.