Being poor makes you more poor (An ongoing series)

Financial stress may hit your brain and wallet: "Being short on cash may make you a bit slower in the brain, a new study suggests. 

People worrying about having enough money to pay their bills tend to lose temporarily the equivalent of 13 IQ points, scientists found when they gave intelligence tests to shoppers at a New Jersey mall and farmers in India. 

The idea is that financial stress monopolizes thinking, making other calculations slower and more difficult, sort of like the effects of going without sleep for a night."

Not much to add to this, except that I've seen other studies that suggest the stresses of being poor do hurt one's decision-making capabilities. Expecting people to "bootstrap up" out of their circumstances thus isn't always realistic.