I grew up poor with a single mother. Did anyone else grew up poor too? How did you all cope? Did it make you a better person?
I grew up poor but with two parents. I don't think it had much effect on me one way or the other. Almost all of the community I grew up in was poor so maybe that softened the impact.
I never knew what "poor" meant for even though my mom and I never had much we still made life as pleasant as possible for ourselves by doing what we could with what we had. I never felt "poor" but looking back was in that range monetarily speaking but always had more love than money could buy.
What Americans consider "poor" often times is a joke. I've never been "Poor" but then again my idea of what poor is, is different from someone else's. I've had 2 parents (most of the time) so I consider myself generally lucky. Though there were bad times and we moved around alot, I havn't really lived in what could be considered poverty. My parents made the decision to keep us out of the "ghetto" from an early age.
I grew up poor. I was still quite stunned at how I turned out. Most people I know are not in a good place right now. I lived with roaches, waterbugs, and rats. That's why I am a firm believer in the self-fulfilling prophecy and placebo effects.