Wild Unicorn Herd

class rage speaks: Perspective and perception: the privilege or problem of living with one's parents »

classragespeaks:

With the economy in the state it’s in, it’s clear that now is a difficult time, financially speaking, to be a young person in the United States. Unemployment is rampant, the job market is cutthroat, and higher education is ever more expensive, sending many people into substantial student-loan debt. I know very well how scary a situation this can be; I graduate with my master’s in a year, and even though both of my degrees are from top-tier schools, I’m still terrified that I won’t be able to find a job that allows me to pay off my loans, live from day to day, and make some kind of progress toward a state of greater financial security.

One statistic I’ve seen mentioned in discussions of this economic climate is that at present, 85% of college graduates will return to live with their parents. I’m not clear as to the methodology of this study, or what exactly it means- for how long? directly from college, or after some time? But I can definitely believe, from other information and my own experiences, that a fairly large percentage of young people are choosing to save money by living with their parents instead of paying for their own independent housing […]

Moving back to live with their parents? Quite a few people I know never left; being close enough to commute to school, they lived with their parents through university and only moved out well after they had found a stable job, or until academia took them to a more distant school. It’s a viable option because this is a very large metropolitan area with several good universities and colleges, and the cost of living is high. As well, many (if not most) people here are first- or second-generation Canadians and come from cultures where it’s acceptable or even expected to live at home until you marry.

In my case, my preferred schools were all several hours away and I don’t have a good relationship with my biological family in any case, so living at home—or moving back if things don’t work out—was never an option. I sometimes feel resentful towards my friends whose parents bought them condos, or who were able to live rent-free until they had saved up enough to get a nice place and furnish it well too. But them’s the breaks.

Report Finds Poverty Myths Rampant »

classragespeaks:

equivoque:

A new Salvation Army report exploring attitudes on poverty in Canada suggests many people believe the poor are “part of the problem” and their decisions led them to poverty, even while most also agree that everyone deserves basic dignity and a helping hand.

Among the findings of the report, released Tuesday to coincide with the launch of the organization’s new campaign, is that 43 per cent of Canadians agree that “a good work ethic is all you need to escape poverty,” while 41 per cent believe the poor would “take advantage” of any assistance given to them and “do nothing.”

Other figures from this study:

• 23% of Canadians believe that poor people are poor because they’re lazy.
• “28% believe that the poor have ‘lower moral values.’”
• 54% believe that a family of four can survive on less than $30,000 (Canadian) per year, well below the low-income cutoff for urban areas, even though “the Salvation Army says it’s ‘extremely difficult’ for a family to live on less than $40,000 in an urban area.”
• “A similar number [around 50%] believe that if poor people really want to work, ‘they can always find a job.’”

That last point strikes me as particularly absurd in its absolute removal from reality.

To end poverty, guarantee everyone in Canada $20,000 a year. But are you willing to trust the poor? »

LOL NO. That would require admitting that poverty is not a moral failing. How about we just keep sitting around and debating whether, in a developed nation which prides itself on its high standard of living, people are “entitled” to shelter, food, and basic human dignity.

Seriously, though, $20,000 is not a terrible lot of money. It is a lot higher than what a single person on social assistance receives annually in my province—$7,020—but it is still slightly below the poverty line. It will not make poor people middle-class. But it would ensure better housing and an adequate diet, and alleviate a certain amount of desperation.

class rage speaks: "But that's for rich people!" »

classragespeaks:

When I was young, I didn’t quite know yet all of what it meant to be poor, of course, but I was aware that my life was different from that of many of my peers. Over time, I developed the idea that some of the things I couldn’t have were just things that were “for rich people” and thus intrinsically inaccessible to me…

I also grew up thinking of butter as a “rich people” thing! Let’s see, what else…

• Shopping for clothes and shoes as a recreational activity. Growing up, we only went shopping seasonally, to replace stuff we’d outgrown or worn out. I was in university before I realized that ordinary people sometimes went out and bought clothes and shoes even when they already had plenty, just to be fashionable.
• Home renovations. Like, getting the bathroom retiled, or new kitchen cabinets. The whole idea of fixing up a space that is merely ugly or cramped or dark or whatever, but not actually falling apart, just sounds so extravagant.
• Not-from-concentrate orange juice, like Tropicana. It’s like DRINKING MONEY.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I am going to make myself toast and tea. Toast with MOTHERFUCKING BUTTER. You know what the damndest thing is? I didn’t even buy that butter, my old roommate did, and she moved out months ago, and it has lasted so long because I’ve just been buying margarine and using that instead. Hahahahaha…