Families Stuck in a Financial Rut

There are many families that make too much money for government assistance, but not enough to live a healthy life. These families are in a situation where they often times have no choice but to skip paying a necessary bill just so they can eat. They fall behind on their rent, and utility bills. They do not spend money on senseless things that they do not need, they really are trying to get a hold of their finances. Many of these people have to go without things such as health insurance and even have to risk not having car insurance so they can keep a roof over their family's head, and enough food on the table to survive.

These are often the single-parent families. They parent is forced to choose between struggling financially, as they often do, or working two or three jobs and not being home to raise their kids. What kind of choice is that? This is definitely not a win-win situation. Either pay the bills and let someone else spend the majority of the time with their children, or not be able to pay the bills, and be able to raise their own children? Who is really paying the price here?

Now, many will think that these people should have made themselves more financially stable before having kids. Chances are, when they had their children, things were much better for them. Many will think that these people need to go to college, further their education, and get a better job. Many of these families cannot afford schooling, cannot take the time from their current jobs to go to school, or cannot find any assistance for schooling. These families fall into the cracks of society. They make too much to get the help they desperately need, but not enough to really provide for their families.

Since these people do not have health insurance, they will often times not go to the doctor unless they absolutely have no other choice, and by then, they find themselves seriously ill. They go to work sick, not being able to afford the needed time off to get over an illness. Every day, these people are trying to think of a way to make more money. Finances consume their thoughts.

They will hear advice telling them to save for their future and invest their money for retirement. They hear this, but they know that in their situation, there just isn't that option. To these families, saving for the future is using less toilet paper, or eating smaller meals than they already do. Even if they get a sizeable tax return, they have to use that money to pay bills they have had to put off.

Society seems to look down on these people, thinking that they are just lazy and wasteful; they put themselves into their current situation. This is not always true. Many of the families in this situation were thrown into the situation completely blind-folded. They went from living fairly comfortably one day to living in poverty the next. These families often do not want a hand out; they just need a little help until they can figure it all out for themselves. They are very hard workers, and very intelligent people, just in a bad situation.

These slip-through-the-crack families are seemingly being penalized for trying to make their lives better. They live on very little income, and often times in run-down homes. They do not have huge credit card debt, or outrageous loans to pay off. They do not have the nicest of vehicles or homes. They live within their means, but their means just isn't enough.

When these families go to apply for assistance of any kind, they know exactly what their financial situation is, but because of government standards, they are turned away and told that there is no reason why they can't make it without help, after all, they make enough money. If they dare go to apply for a loan to help them get by, they are told that they do not make enough money to qualify. They simply slip through the cracks until the day comes when they figure it all out on their own and excel above the rest.