Poor choices and the poor

Escaping the Cycle of Scarcity

By TINA ROSENBERG, NYT

“Scarcity” is a new book that does something that I didn’t think possible: it says something new about why people are poor — and what to do about it.

Here’s what’s not new: Poor people have more self-destructive habits than middle-class people. The poor don’t plan for the future as much. Compared to middle-class people, the poor have less self-control and are quicker to turn to instant gratification. These habits perpetuate a cycle of poverty.

This is proven. The controversy is why it is the case. For conservatives, roughly speaking, these behaviors cause poverty. For liberals, also roughly speaking, poverty in many ways causes these behaviors. It is easy to see how the stresses of poverty weigh in. With eating habits, for example: fruit and vegetables cost more that many unhealthier foods, and might not be available in a poor neighborhood.

But there are behaviors the liberal view struggles to explain. Even when healthy foods are available and made cheap, for example, poor people take advantage of them far less.

(More here.)