My heart breaks when my friends conflate the two terms: understanding the difference between ‘broke’ and ‘poor’ is the first step toward building a more equitable society
I used to have money. Not a lot, but enough. I went straight from school into a full-time profession and did everything I was supposed to: I set up an emergency fund (six months of income put aside for a rainy day); I didn’t use a credit card; I paid into my company pension. I was able to donate monthly to charity and even had enough left over for a budget-friendly vacation at the end of the year. I had a lot to be thankful for, and that feeling of good fortune only grew when I became a mother.
But then, things started to go wrong. My youngest child was diagnosed with a developmental disability and was hospitalized. For me to continue working, he’d need special one-on-one childcare. (I was quoted a rate of $41 an hour – more than I earned in my own job.) Thankfully, my employers allowed me flexible office time, so I could work from home part of the day and take my child to appointments and therapies, all of which cost money – money that was slowly slipping through my fingers.
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