My father ran a budget counselling service at the local church. The vast majority of people the church was helping were low income families who were struggling to make ends meet, and were considering things like payday loans in order to simply put food on the table.

They were not irresponsible people: they had smart phones but no landline: Smartphone for $60/month versus landline for $70/month, they were making some smart decisions about where to spend their money.

The issues they did have were not being in contrl of their budgets. For the majority of these families, just learning about the envelope budget system helped them regain control. Also learning how to shop around more carefully and pay attention to whh coupons were useful and which were merely advertising helped.

The catch for low incme families can simply be not knowing how to be ruthlessly disciplined with their budget.

There is a vast gulf between, "being irresponsible," and "not knowing better ways to manage their money."

Poor people are often poor because they do not have access to the same opportunities as you: inadequate education, poor training, naiveté about wealth-building habits, and so on.

You can help make the world a better place by not perpetuating the myth that poor people are popr because they are undisciplined, lazy, stupid, or irresponsible.

Even better, find a local support group for low income families and see how you can provide assistance.