The poverty trap is a great article. The thing not mentioned is that you need two incomes to get by. "Poor" people generally have one.
Even folks who make more money can fall into this sort of realm. Say you have a couple where one person makes $100k, and the other $50k. Then children arrive. The person making $50k faces several years where their salary is essentially paying for childcare exclusively.
So you face this bizarre choice. Pay an outrageous sum of money and have people making $11/hr raise your children, or drop out of the workforce and become nearly unemployable when the kids get older.
Even folks who make more money can fall into this sort of realm. Say you have a couple where one person makes $100k, and the other $50k. Then children arrive. The person making $50k faces several years where their salary is essentially paying for childcare exclusively.
So you face this bizarre choice. Pay an outrageous sum of money and have people making $11/hr raise your children, or drop out of the workforce and become nearly unemployable when the kids get older.