Should Be Titled, 'What Happens When Parents Make Poor Decisions'

Absolutely. The poor choices being made by uneducated, selfish and irresponsible parents is reason number one that these children are even in such deplorable situations. If people would only use their brains instead of their loins and quit having kids they can't afford to feed, this world would be far less overpopulated and less miserable.

But you've gotta ask yourself why someone holding down 2 or even 3 jobs is unable to provide even the basics for their family in 2011 America....

Spoken like a true Republican douche. Not EVERY person who is poor is irresponsible. That is a blanket statement and a total stereotype. Every black person like watermelon and fried chicken, right?? Every Hispanic person who lives in that county MUST be in a gang, right?

Were their irresponsible parents in this documentary? Of course....welcome to the real world! I've seen parents WITH money who were just as irresponsible! But I also saw a couple families that were victims of a crap economy that cut them loose from their jobs to save on the bottom line. To be living in the richest county in the United States and be that poor is ridiculous. The system is rigged against people. You cannot get up the ladder no matter how hard you try. The days of America being the land of opportunity have been over for many MANY years, and it's only gotten worse since Bush started a pointless war over oil.

If you think things are so bad maybe you should actually help instead of being a judgmental jerk like the director of this documentary. I thought she came off as very condescending. These parents could give their kids up to the state, but they're doing everything in their power to stay together. If you've never been there you will never understand what it's like.

I hope this director made her money on this documentary! Making money off the misery of others is exploitative and self-serving.

Spoken like a true Republican douche. Not EVERY person who is poor is irresponsible. That is a blanket statement and a total stereotype. Every black person like watermelon and fried chicken, right?? Every Hispanic person who lives in that county MUST be in a gang, right?

Were their irresponsible parents in this documentary? Of course....welcome to the real world! I've seen parents WITH money who were just as irresponsible! But I also saw a couple families that were victims of a crap economy that cut them loose from their jobs to save on the bottom line. To be living in the richest county in the United States and be that poor is ridiculous. The system is rigged against people. You cannot get up the ladder no matter how hard you try. The days of America being the land of opportunity have been over for many MANY years, and it's only gotten worse since Bush started a pointless war over oil.

If you think things are so bad maybe you should actually help instead of being a judgmental jerk like the director of this documentary. I thought she came off as very condescending. These parents could give their kids up to the state, but they're doing everything in their power to stay together. If you've never been there you will never understand what it's like.

I hope this director made her money on this documentary! Making money off the misery of others is exploitative and self-serving.

I understand your feelings, but it is counterproductive and an insufficient assumption to place complete blame on the parents without examining cultural, societal, economical and/or governmental factors which may perpetuate those sorts of situations. This is not to say that many of the parents aren't guilty of poor decision making and parenting skills, rather to suggest that their bad parenting or decision making might be among a list of many factors/reasons for their poverty and homelessness.

I think the documentary was highlighting the difficulties in maintaining a descent livelihood in Orange County, or any other region considered expensive. The costs of living do vary depending on where you are in the country, and the director made it a point to portray the contrasts between those featured in the documentary and those who can afford to prosper in that town. The wages offered do not always correspond with the cost of living; so, although it may cost a minimum of x amount to afford a "decent" living, employers don't necessarily always pay that minimum. You saw that one of the mothers was a nurses assistant- maybe not a lucrative career, but you'd think at that level she could at least afford a small apartment. Her wage of 15 dollars an hour wasn't enough to support herself (and family) in Orange County, CA...maybe in another town in another state, but not there.

Also, when speaking in terms of poverty, we should acknowledge the role of education and access to resources. Those born in poverty tend to stay in poverty, and when they bear children in poverty, those children have the same risk of staying in poverty as their parents did. Think of yourself being born in a single room. You and your parents do everything in that room; they work there and shop there, you go to school there and meet all of your friends there as well. Everything that they and you know exists in that room. Although you may sort of know what is behind the door and beyond that room, no one in your world has figured out how to open the door, much less properly teach and guide you towards that opportunity. And even if you did manage to step out of the room, it would be very stressful and difficult navigating once in that world, as you would be entirely out of your element. Your parents do their best to pass on what they know, but what they know is lacking and not enough to prepare you to become successful on your own. If that cycle isn't broken, it easily becomes your children's likely fate; and not everyone has a good grasp on what it takes to break that cycle. Education and access to resources are truly strong indicators of future success. Education teaches you how to find and utilize resources, yet, even the best education is challenged (and at times useless) when there are no resources to be utilized (such as a small town with few jobs, low educational standards, little support from professionals who are qualified to assist citizens, etc).

I'm not saying that getting out of poverty is impossible, or that all who are within the depths of poverty are uneducated. My point is that your analysis of those families and their lives is one dimensional, and although a situation may appear simple from the outside, there are often a complex network of factors which manifest into what you erroneously think is a result of "only" bad decisions.

Exactly right, thanks.

Bottom line, as long as these sorts of people continue to breed, we will always have poverty.

Liberals are always looking for some government panacea, they never learn from past mistakes, i.e., what welfare culture has done to the African American family.

Increasing the minimum wage to 20$ won't solve a thing, and it will ultimately hurt more people than it helps.