People who hail from poor families feel powerless because they may get what they urgently 'need' but not what they 'want'
Growing up wealthy can be a privilege, but it often shields people from understanding fundamental realities of life. Those who grow up less affluent often have these lessons ingrained in their very being. On Reddit, a user named u/bobtheglob71 shared a post in the r/askreddit group, asking its 48 million members, “Redditors who grew up poor, what is something that ‘rich kids’ will never understand?” The comment section is filled with heartbreaking stories.
According to surveys, nearly 38 million people in America alone struggle with poverty, and the number escalates to more than 700 million globally. From squeezing toothpaste tubes for every last drop to wearing worn-out clothes at celebrations, poverty often strips away life's simple joys. In this Reddit post, nearly 1,500 people shared things they believe rich kids will never understand. Here are ten agonizing experiences, both physical and emotional, that users say most "rich kids" won't ever truly grasp.
“Feeling guilty about costing your parents money.” – u/AllPurposeNerd “Guilt over spending anything on myself even if I need it (work clothes for example).” – u/MueryK “Watching your parents stress over money and not really being able to help shapes your entire childhood. Everything you get has a layer of guilt attached, even though my parents did the best they could to shield me from it. That's why I still compulsively avoid luxury items in my 30s.” – u/MercurialMagician
“Family vacations were nonexistent.” – u/personofinterest18 “Poor families don't do that. I had never had a family vacation. Winter meant hauling firewood.” - u/sekret_one “When I was a kid, we never ate out. Even fast food was a treat. The only vacation we went on was to a free beach on the Jersey Shore.” – u/identifyinsurrection
“True hunger. I don't mean that casual 'I guess I should eat...' feeling, I mean that hollow, cramping pain deep in your stomach, the hunger that feels like your own body is eating itself from the inside out and that drives you crazy to the point you'll eat anything you can chew through just to try and keep the pain away. Nobody should have to feel that, poor or not, especially a child.” – u/korbah
“Wearing the same shit to school almost every day.” – u/skelatorshred “Always getting second-hand school uniforms, which are way too large and look comical even 4 years later.” – u/reedherring “Getting laughed at and bullied at school because your clothes have holes, are smelly and your family can't afford new ones neither does your family own a laundry machine.” – u/[deleted]
“Duct taping your shoes when the soles start falling off so they'll last a few more months.” – u/sexypineapple14 “Sewing shoes back together with fishing line, or gluing them back together.” – u/bcoftheimplication7
“Amount of time feeling powerless.” – u/hot_bite “Being bullied for being poor.” – u/terminallyalone “How much it can hurt when rich kids bully the poor kids. Not all do it, but most did when I was at school.” – u/ok_ambassador886
“Recall never having toilet roll. We always used newspapers, and this is in the 90s, so not exactly a million years ago. A few months back, one of my children moaned because I didn’t buy the toilet roll with the coconut scent added. It was that moment that I realized I had succeeded in dragging them as far away from the hell that was my childhood as I possibly could.” – u/idealminds “Toilet paper was a luxury.” – u/carolynearle
“All my gifts for Christmas and Birthdays were something I needed or would need and had to be bought anyway. Like clothes, shoes, or school supplies. Never, never anything fun or just because I wanted it.” – u/freckledjezebel “The utter disappointment of waking up to very little on Christmas day, and wondering what you'd done wrong that year.” – u/optimal_tension9657 “Getting a donation box for Christmas of mostly tinned food and from that getting hair pins as my Christmas present. It's weird looking back on this, I remember being so excited, the box was even wrapped up.” – u/reedherring
“Living in close quarters with family can be nice if it's optional. But being forced to share the living room with your sibling and father because you physically cannot afford to have your own privacy is exhausting and mentally draining.” – u/iwanttobeaplane “Privacy is a privilege. It’s different when you want alone time and can only lock yourself in your bathroom or car because you share a room with five other family members.” – u/whatyouegg_13
“Having dinner and knowing that your Mum isn't eating, not because she isn't hungry, but because she's making sure her kids have food first.” – u/dragonsloveboxes “I'm 59 and a few years back I learned that my father sometimes didn't eat dinner to make sure there was plenty for my brothers, sister, and myself.” – u/urgunnadownvoteme
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