Well, that's a shame. Near poverty in the USA isn't so common anymore. Your circumstances must have been particularly egregious.
If you were that poor then you couldn't have afforded to do anything else but stay home. Working people need money for clothes, commuting, baby/child-sitting, housekeeping, cooks and such just to be able to work. The most-poor can do nothing BUT stay home.
I quit a six figure job to stay home with my kids.
They’re more important than a particular lifestyle.