I live in the northern suburbs, luckily just outside some of the more poverty stricken areas. These suburbs all have a Cash Converters or some sort of money lending place, venues that sell alcohol reasonably close to each other, etc. and they all seem designed to keep someone stuck in a cycle of poverty.

I have a friend who works, but has a girlfriend who still has a welfare mindset (I understand it myself) and she does things like Afterpay and Rentorilla for her furniture, and electronic equipment. She gets the stuff she needs immediately and then pays them off over time. She pays more in interest, but it means that she eventually owns her stuff.

Then however, she will go and put more stuff on credit. It's a vicious cycle.