Other people are poor!

Xoverboard gives words to something I've been trying to articulate for years: some people just don't understand that other people are poor!

This goes beyond just immediate current events into something that's been bugging me my entire life. My father would often go on rants about how a family of four on welfare would get as much money in a month as my mother used in a month for household expenses. I am not in a position to confirm these numbers, and I don't know if the statement is still applicable today, but even if it is true the fact remains that people on welfare don't have assets! My parents have a house with a paid-off mortgage and a paid-off car, a job with pension and benefits, credit cards, a good credit rating, RRSPs, and an unknown (but, judging by empirical evidence, appreciable) amount of investments.

On welfare, you cannot have assets. It's not allowed! You can't have social assistance if you have more than $200 in assets! (And I cannot think of a single place below the tree line where $200 could buy you a month's rent in any sort of accomodation whatsoever).

You simply can't compare $X per month with appreciable assets to $X per month with no assets. There's a huge difference, and this really hit home from me when I realized that I could easily evacuate by hopping on the next plane to anywhere.
When you have assets, you have options. You may live like a monk on a day-to-day basis, but when an emergency occurs, you can throw money at it and make the problem go away. People on welfare can't do that.

When I was in university, my wallet was stolen just before a long weekend. I had no money, no ID, no TTC tokens, no way to get cash, and nowhere near enough food to get through the weekend. So I called my parents. They used their nice, paid-for car to drive an hour to get me and an hour back. I used their computer (bought with a discount through my father's work) and internet access (a benefit of my father's job) to download the appropriate forms to replace my ID. Then their neighbour, who has known me since I was a baby, was kind enough to sign my forms as a guarantor. My mother then handed me $200, in cash, to tide me over until I got my ID and bank cards replaced.

People on social assistance wouldn't have a car, and poor people with a car would have to think long and hard about whether they can afford the gas for an unexpected two-hour trip. They probably would not have a computer - they'd have to go to a public library or wait until the long weekend was over and stand in line at a government office (both of which are hard when your transit tokens are also gone). Unless they live in a really mixed neighbourhood and socialize with people in other buildings, they aren't going to have neighbours who hold jobs that make them suitable guarantors. And that $200 my mother so kindly gave me, probably without even thinking twice? That is all you're allowed to have in the world if you're on social assistance. If she'd handed me another $20, even if there was nothing in my bank account, I would have been considered too rich for social assistance. Things are different when you have assets.

The other thing that better-off people have is stuff. All my furniture came from my parents' house. They both lived independently before getting married, so they had enough extra furniture to furnish my apartment. Therefore, I didn't have to worry about "Can I afford furniture?" Poor people don't have extra perfectly good furniture sitting around. If they did, they'd sell it. So if their furniture breaks, they have to replace it or do without. If their kid moves out, they have to find their own furniture or do without, thus making it that much harder for their kid to achieve adult independence.

Having a decent-paying job, I buy clothes as particular items strike my fancy. Therefore, I have far more clothes than strictly necessary in my closet - many of which I never wear because they have become slightly worn or unfashionable or I have acquired something else I like better. If I had a financial disaster and could not afford to buy new clothes, I would probably be good for at least a year before I started to have gaps in my wardrobe. I would look less fashionable, less attractive, and more threadbare, but I'd have enough clothes to get me through. If my boots become unwearable and I can't replace them, I can always wear my old boots. They're a bit worn out, but I could make do if necessary. Poor people don't have this option. If they have a disaster that eats up what clothing budget they have, and then their boots become unwearable, they'll just have to do without boots. They can't tap into their savings or withdraw a GIC early or wait until their next payday - they simply have no way to get new boots.

Other people are poor.

It's really quite humbling to think about.