Cost of poverty

A paper by the Brookings Institution, titled From Poverty, Opportunity: Putting the Market to Work for Lower Income Families,[9] is widely cited as a study into ghetto taxes, although the report itself does not use the term.

[4][10][11] The problem of ghetto taxes is closely associated with mobility; one study in the United States showed that higher prices might be prevalent in some neighborhoods, but people with access to a car would have more access to affordable goods and services elsewhere, whilst those without a car would bear the brunt of higher local prices.

This higher stress in turn decreases life expectancy, which costs society in lost social and cultural capital.

Roughly $1.442 trillion are lost annually to poverty and resulting effects, whether it be hunger, education costs and outcomes, healthcare, crime, or homelessness and related issues.

Lastly, there are many other hidden costs - that are difficult to quantify and predict - but ultimately they all boil down to the fact that people in poverty are far less prepared to weather an unexpected or emergency expense, and are unlikely to be able to meet their basic needs after such an event.