Are You One Of The Middle-Class Poor?

May 7, 2012 in Current Affairs, Finance, Society

I grew up poor. Not destitute, but poor. My dad worked as a cleaner up until I was 6, and then we lived on his invalid pension until I was 13. When he passed away, my mother and I lived on her widow’s pension until I started working at 19. The only thing that saved us from being destitute was the fact that my parents had managed to buy the house they were renting thanks to a post-war zero-interest loan that Dad qualified for as an ex-servicemen after WWII.

Even then, I grew up without many luxuries. Things that you may take for granted, like a car or holidays. Seriously, my parents never took me away on holiday once. I would spend summer holidays on the Central Coast north of Sydney at my sister’s house, but all that cost us was the price of a return rail ticket to Gosford. We didn’t have a phone until I was about 8, and we didn’t have an inside loo until I was 10. I only got clothes for my birthday which had to last me until my next birthday. I only got toys at Christmas which had to last until next Christmas. The only reason we had a TV was because Dad won 500 pounds in the lottery (before I was born). We never went out to restaurants…we simply couldn’t afford to.

As a consequence of my poor childhood, I’ve always been suspicious of people who seem, to my eyes, to be well off, and yet who cry poor. They complain about how expensive everything is and how the cost of living is rising, and yet they have so many things in their lives that I grew up considering to be luxuries. Not only do they have a car, they probably have two. They have electrical gadgets coming out of their wazoos, and their kids seem to have new toys and clothes every week. They regularly eat out at restaurants, and don’t mention all the overseas holidays they seem to be able to afford. And yet they cry poor. They complain about the price of housing and electricity and fuel. They complain how much money they have to spend on their kids. They complain about the cost of their broadband and smart-phone accounts. Well, I just don’t buy it. If you have so much and you still consider yourself poor, then you must be doing something wrong.

This is what poverty looks like...

That’s why I was so interested when a new report was released last week. The study shows income and pension gains, and a decade of low inflation, have meant all family types are relatively better off, including working families with children, pensioners, high-income earners, and even families in the lowest income quartile. And yet so many people claim they are worse off than they used to be.

I know I don’t feel any worse off now compared to 10 years ago…20 years even. Of course, I don’t have kids, but my partner and I have always been very careful how we spent our money. We chose to buy a unit instead of a house, but we also chose to buy in a more expensive area, but one with good public transport so we didn’t have to own a car. That was our choice…to live in a good neighbourhood instead of owning a car. We also chose to put most of our earnings in to firstly paying off our mortgage, and then into our super. That meant we didn’t go on holidays or eat out much. Eventually we may feel comfortable enough go on a holiday, or eat out more often, or move into a house. But until then, we’re happy where we are, and we’re happy with our modest lifestyle.

And that’s the point isn’t it. When I was growing up, we didn’t have a choice. We just didn’t have any money. But many people who do now cry poor have a choice. They have a choice of selling a car, or doing without a holiday, or downsizing their home, or not sending their kids to a private school. Until you get to the point where you can’t do any of those things to make ends meet, then don’t cry-poor to me…I just won’t listen.

Do you feel worse off than you did 10 years ago? What about 20 years ago? Are you asset rich but cash poor? Do your children have more toys and clothes than you did when you grew up?

Image by Dorothea Lange [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Author Info

John James has written 203 posts.
JJ is a blogger who is bored with traditional opinion blogging. He is a co-founder and editor at KiKi & Tea. He also represents the grumpy middle-aged man demographic on KiKi & Tea. He is a writer by trade and a frustrated rock star / crime fighter by night, and blogs about music at newmusicrevue.com.
Follow on twitter: @JohnJamesOZ
Website: http://johnanthonyjames.com/

8 Comments »

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Bek M

I was lucky growing up, my Dad had a steady job as a high school teacher and my Mum stayed at home. They paid off their mortgage pretty quickly, and we were able to have things like piano lessons. We got pocket money, and they bought us clothes. They never made big purchases (they didn’t get new furniture until we’d all left home), and anything extra we wanted we had to save up pocket money for. The boys got part time jobs as they got older, I would babysit. We were all big on op shopping.

I’d struggle now without my parents and my church’s help, but I wouldn’t class myself as poor. I was priced out of my last rental, and for a while considered applying for public housing, but was finally able to get another place to live. I find the rising cost of rent and utilities hard, I do the usual things like turn everything off at the power points before bed, I’m rugging up instead of using a heater. I find that I need to have a car, with both boys attending school and preschool most days. Next year I’m switching public schools so we can walk to school, hopefully saving money on petrol and car costs.

We don’t go out to eat (except on birthdays) and I get my kids clothes, books and toys from op shops. I frequent the simple savings website a lot, it’s good at keeping me motivated. I struggle a bit with the fact that I can’t afford extra stuff for my kids, when all my friends send their kids to art class, or soccer/netball, or swimming lessons. It worries me that my kids can’t swim, but Mr7 will get swimming lessons from his school this year so hopefully he’ll take to that (though that will cost money too). Sometimes Mr 7 asks if he can play soccer like the other kids and I have to say no, but he can kick the ball in the backyard with me.

I try to find a balance between being frugal and still spending money on things that enrich our life experience. Today I’ll be starting a weekly singing workshop ($15 for 2 hrs) that I consider an investment in my emotional well-being. I’m still on the look out for a cheap activity Mr7 can do, maybe at the new school next year we’ll find something. We go to the park and I play nintendo with him (given to us by my brother), mostly I find Mr 7 is quite happy to have downtime at home after school rather than be super busy with activities.

Wow this post is getting a bit long- this issue on my mind a lot I guess. Thanks for sharing your story JJ.
Whippersnapper

John, this is a great piece of writing, well done. I grew up in a family that could sometimes have been considered “middle class poor”. Dad has his own business and Mum stayed at home. We never had holidays, in fact I only remember 1 holiday in my entire childhood! When Dad’s business was not doing well, we struggled.

When Dad got cancer, things were really tough for my family. They had to borrow money to have me set up at uni in my first year, after I had won an accomodation scholarship so I could attened college. I think it has formed part of my stingy-ness today! I’m always hesitant to buy something expensive (like a TV) and usually try and get the cheapest one possible. Or grocery shopping – always looking for what is on special rather than brand loyalty!
Monique Fischle

Growing up, I wasn’t poor. I would have classified my family as middle to upper middle class. My Dad had a good job with a great income and Mum was a high school music teacher. My sister and I weren’t spoilt, but we always got the things we wanted for birthdays and Christmas because they were affordable. We had (and still have) a decent sized house, two cars, and went on two overseas holidays, to America when I was 3 and Thailand when I was 7, and we went to private school.

Then Dad lost his job and we switched to public school and didn’t go overseas any more. Then Mum got sick and couldn’t work, so Dad did labourers jobs to help us get by. Then Mum died and while we got insurance money, we still had to be careful. I wouldn’t call us poor though, we still have nice things, we can afford to buy them. We have done quite a bit of overseas travel. We get by, but as we value travel and such, that’s what we save our money for.

Then Dad lost a substantial amount of money in the GFC. He worked so hard his entire life (he came from a poor family) to save for a good retirement where he could go overseas around every two years, but now he can’t do that.

I am guilty of complaining about money and being poor, but I know that I’m not. I know things could be much worse. I don’t really feel poorer than I did when we had quite a lot more money, because I still have everything I need (except a job).

Great post JJ!
http://tamsinhowse.com/blog Tamsin Howse

I feel like very few of my generation know what it’s like to grow up poor, really poor. Sure, some do, but the majority don’t. Not like our grandparents who lived through the depression.

I have seen poor. When I lived in the Solomon Islands, I learnt what it was to have one headband as a shared luxury among many, to not be able to afford a single biscuit. Sometimes I forget what it was like there. This post was a good reminder for me, and needed to be said.
- Monique Fischle
  
  I completely agree with you here. We don’t know what it’s like. I’ve been to third world countries and have seen real poverty first hand. It really is a kick up the bum to remind you that while we may have money troubles, we can still get by a lot better than some people.
Gail Wilkie

At the moment I have to say I am feeling very poor. My teenage daughter live on about $450.00 dollars a week after rent has been paid. That has to cover food, electricity, phones, petrol, clothes, everything. When you break it all down it’s not much. I am at the moment on newstart, looking for a new job, and I have to say, there isn’t much work out there. I had to leave work unexpectedy because of an injury.
I grew up quite poor. Dad was a sales assistant in a hardware store and Mum stayed home until I was in my teens. We did stuff, ballet (mum sewed the costumes for the concert in lieu of paying fees I think), tennis, soccer and we normally had three weeks away a year in a modest holiday house at the beach, somewhere different every year. Bet moeny was very tight. I remember all of year 5 I had to wear a dress that wasn’t the school uniform to school. It was an awful sky blue hand-me-down from vinnies and I hated it. To this day I hate second hand clothes. It was really tough and I think Mum and Dad had bits of help from time to time from family.
The guilt I feel at not being able to do better for my kids is enormous. My 17yr old daughter wanted to go to the local car boot market last Sunday, bu we had only $20 left until next pay day so I had to say no. We probably wouln’t have wanted tobuy anything, we’re terrific windowshoppers, but with an outing like that comes expenses, petrol, a snack or even lunch. We just couldn’t afford it. I felt so guilty.
So there sure are poor people out there. And yes times have become better in many ways but always remember those who are on pensions can afford to live, but not save. So if the washing machine or car breaks, you are in big trouble.
And the trouble I had before i had to stop work was that even though I have a degree in media studies and journalism, I live in regional Australia and couldn’t get a job anywhere but in the hospitality industry. Wages are low in this industry and even as a manager I always managed to pick the wrong boss to work for and often was underpaid or not paid super.
And to make matters worse, when you go to centrelink, they check how much money you have and don’t start paying you until that runs out. I had saved money for a washing machine and to pay rego for my car and a new set of tyres but it didn’t matter that that money was allocated for something. I had wait months for a payment, even though that money was eventually spent.
I don’t want to sound like I’m whinging, because I’m not. I’m forever greatful that I live in a country with a reasonable safety net, but this is the reality of needing to use that safety net.
Thanks for the article, though. It was well-written and interesting and thought provoking.
- Gail Wilkie
  
  Just wanted to clarrify that I acknowledge that I am very definately a ‘first world’ poor person. We have a roof over our heads, food to eat every day and with careful management just enough left over to cover the bills. I spose struggling is a better way of describing it instead of poor. Whatever it is, it’s bloody hard! Bring on employment!!
- Bek M
  
  I hear you on the “afford to live, not save” thing. I’m on single parent payments, and can live from payment to payment, as long as nothing happens like the car needing repairs. I have no savings. My goal at the moment is to try and put some away until I have $1000 for emergencies. Except my car needed two new tyres last week. Sigh.
  
  I’ve suddenly realised that next year my public school costs will be doubled, due to Mr4 starting school. Will have to try and put money away for that too.

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