Most poor people are poor because of poor life choices. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize you need skills and a bit of "book learning" to get a good paying job. So many high schools are graduating students that can't pass 6th grade math and reading tests. Most schools provide a good education if you want to be educated, but when you sluff off and do nothing and graduate as an illiterate it isn't the school's fault. When I worked for the State of Tennessee I interacted with manufacturers in the state and their biggest complaint was that they couldn't find qualified employees. A number of employers in the machining industry said that job applicants didn't know or even understand fractions which is a definite skill needed for a machinist. Many of them had such low reading skills that they couldn't answer the questions on the job application. Many employers complained that young employees would call in sick at least twice a week or show up late for work. So many young people have no work ethic. Young girls/women getting pregnant outside of marriage which is a direct road to poverty, but we have a system that allows them to live public housing and receive benefits that sometimes exceed what the "working poor" get for their efforts.
Trucking companies constantly advertise for drivers and many of them will pay for driving school but apparently not many take advantage of this opportunity. I know from my discussion with company CEO's that drug testing disqualifies a lot of applicants.
My wife and I lived outside of Nashville about 35 miles and drove there daily to our jobs. The pay in our town of residence was much lower than in Nashville so we commuted there for work. Car pools were available for those who didn't have a car or didn't have one that would hold up to the daily drive.
My wife and I both didn't come from families with money, we were at the bottom of the ladder in the "working poor" class. We both grew up very poor. I graduated from high school and then went into the Army where I learned skills that I enabled me to find employment after I retired from the military. Last time I checked there are service recruiters all over the place looking for recruits, but you do have to have a bit of intelligence and education to get in plus pass a drug test. If you did poorly in school and were graduated just to get you through the system forget about being accepted by the military.
A lot of the time you may have to move to a larger city to find a good paying job. Move!
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