Because social welfare programs are keeping the poor anchored to the government teat.
Exactly where the Progressives want them.
The poor have no reason to go where the jobs are they can stay in the neighborhoods where they grew up with their friends and the government will supply everything they need.
And the government also makes sure that there is a grave price to pay for leaving the plantation. If they get a job that does not pay enough to supply all of their needs but pays just a little too much they loose all of the benefits that they are currently getting.
These people are not total idiots. They will stay where they are and keep collecting their welfare checks and keep voting Democrat.
“Because social welfare programs are keeping the poor anchored to the government teat.”
It all comes down to bad choices. Girls of 13 are having out of wedlock babies with older teens and young adults. These young girls are not mature enough to raise the child. The burden of childrearing almost certainly means they will not get an education providing them even the rudimentary reading, writing, and math skills required for low skill work.
Many young boys and girls who choose not to fall into the pregnancy trap fall into the racial trap and buy into the hip hop urban culture theme that excelling in school is “white”. As a result they fail to apply themselves in school and end up without the rudimentary skills required to prosper in the workplace.
Without even rudimentary skills, the potential of obtaining more than an extremely low paying low skill job is zero. Dependence on government then becomes either a conscious choice or the default choice. Without skills there is no social mobility.