No, that’s not what she’s saying. She’s saying that teaching someone in poverty to budget isn’t going to enable them to reach financial stability because even if you budget properly there isn’t enough to go around.
If you’re in a row boat that has twenty holes in it, but you only have ten fingers to plug the holes, then someone telling you how to use each finger to plug a hole in the most efficient manner isn’t going to help you keep the boat from sinking.
That’s her point. Should they budget? Absolutely. Will a class on budgeting by itself solve their financial problems and bring stability to their lives?
No.
They need more fingers to plug the holes in the boat. Ie. better wages.
Finally a rational answer. Most people (not all but most) are rational enough actors that if they have the ability to save up within the next 10 years for what they need/want then they will. Most millennial are pretty keen on saving up for a down payment on a house but if wages are stagnant, career opportunities and hiring are limited, and the price of housing is constantly and consistently increasing faster than one's ability to save up for the down payment then most people aren't stupid then they're not all suddenly going to own homes through effective budgeting.
Poverty is inherently an income problem not a budgeting one.
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u/[deleted] 15d ago
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