I remember hearing about a study that concluded that most people who were living in poverty and really struggling were making bad life choices and decisions because of the situation they were in…

And not living in poverty because of bad life choices and decisions they had previously made.

It has become a common belief that a lot of people who are struggling make their situation worse by ‘knowingly’ making bad decisions when it is in fact the situation that is influencing their decision making.

I can understand this because it is incredible hard to focus on anything ‘long term’ when you are desperate.

In a previous article I mentioned how being poor was expensive because people are forced to buy cheap products that they need because they cannot afford the more expensive and better ones… and that usually means that the cheaper products need replacing more often.

A person, who cannot afford a £100 pair of shoes, could end up spending £200 on cheap shoes over the lifespan of the more expensive pair.

You could ask ‘why don’t they save for a better pair of shoes?’

When you have very little spare money and the shoes you are wearing have holes in the soles which are about to fall off, would you want the discomfort of walking around in bare feet trying to save up the money for a decent pair of shoes when you could buy a cheap pair and protect your feet?

I doubt it.

Desperation and ‘immediate need’ leads to a lot of bad decisions.

Desperation causes more problems.

As you know, the current cost-of-living-crisis has resulted in huge increases to food and living costs.

Only yesterday I heard that a policeman’s mortgage has shot up again by another £400 per month because of the government’s failure to manage the economic problems.

Add to that the cost increases to energy and food, how do you just find an extra £600 or more each month when you don’t have that money to hand?

It needs to be paid otherwise you could lose your home.

Then what do you do?

That leads to a whole lot more problems.

It’s at these desperate times that bad decisions are made.

This morning I read about a woman who could not get any extra financial support from the government and has been forced to send her children to live with their father.

It reported that she was considering turning to prostitution as a way to earn money.

She feels like she has no other option.

She needs money now, and that desperation is fuelling her decision making.

As a woman who was struggling to cope with life at the best of times due to a history of sex abuse, becoming a prostitute is not going to do her already shattered mental health any favours.

Desperation causes more problems.

The desperate need for money quickly reduces people’s options.

It leaves them with very little that they can do other than make bad decisions.

This is why I recommend that people start a second income stream before life turns sour… if possible.

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