Business Insider, February 6, 2020: ‘Being poor in America is a full-time job’: The astronomical cost of banking while poor
Being poor in America is a full-time job. The commutes of poor Americans are often longer than those of middle-class Americans. Buying less expensive, low-quality products — say, a cheap pair of boots with cardboard soles — often results in a larger outlay of money over time than a slightly more expensive and higher quality item. And anyone who’s read Linda Tirado’s polemic “Hand to Mouth: Living in Bootstrap America” knows that this country is literally rigged against the poor.
No industry is quite as emblematic of the systemic oppression of low-income Americans as payday loans. Some 12 million Americans take out payday loans every year, and those loans draw $9 billion in fees annually. That’s a staggering number, and once you learn even a little bit about the system, it’s easy to see how predatory payday lenders can rack up those huge profits. It turns out, banking while poor is big business in America.
