A fair amount has been written about how much more the poor pay for everything—from basic food to all manner of services—and our own research in Savannah bears out that truth. A survey conducted last year in the high-poverty census tracts revealed respondents who are unbanked are paying about $34.60 per month just to cash their paychecks.

But not only are families with less usually paying more, they’re also spending more time on what should be simple transactions. If time really is money, then our neighbors in poverty are constantly shelling out:  Spending time waiting for buses, waiting to transfer, waiting in lines.

These “hidden” costs of poverty—hidden only to those who don’t think about what it means to be poor—are described in a May 18 article by DeNeen Brown in the Washington Post. She’s not the first reporter to write about the high costs of being poor, but her piece is a good reminder.

Follow this link to read it yourself: 

Welcome to Step Up's newest board members, Virginia Brown, director of Coastal Empire Habitat for Humanity, and Kathy Love, new president of Savannah Technical College.