Free Lunch

Poverty and financial stress are known to be correlated with an increased risk of abuse and neglect. Economic stress leads to psychological distress, and parents in these situations may struggle to be emotionally and economically supportive toward their children. In Rex’s case, his mother Luciana’s love seems dependent on her finances. When she’s in the midst of hardship, she is emotionally and physically abusive: “When Mom isn’t working, she’s always upset and sad and she can’t love me like a normal mom. She gets mad at every little thing. No job means no money, which means no groceries or electricity” (11). A review of the relationship between poverty and child abuse and neglect shows that when parents are constantly concerned about money, tension both within them and the family rises, leading to conflict; the longer that a family is in poverty, and the more severe the poverty is, the higher the likelihood of abuse (Bywaters, et al., “The Relationship Between Poverty and Child Abuse and Neglect: New Evidence.” University of Huddersfield, 2022). Living in poverty also leads people to feel shame toward their situation, and Luciana’s shame clearly reflects in the way that Rex views himself. Rex Ogle found his memoir Free Lunch difficult to write, but he wanted to reduce the stigma and shame surrounding poverty by sharing his story, his own inner battle to accept his situation and forgive his mother for her part in his struggle. Ogle includes several resources in the memoir for children who are experiencing abuse or neglect.

Experiencing poverty as a parent often leads one to make decisions out of desperation, such as Luciana’s choice to lie for fast food coupons and stay with Sam despite his abusive nature. Luciana struggles with her mental health throughout the memoir, and experiences a cycle in which her mental health declines alongside her financial situation. Her frustration is clear, and when Rex offers an opening, she finally voices it in a healthy way: “No matter how hard we work, we’ll never have money like the people at the top. We work just as hard as they do. Harder sometimes. But we’ll never make the money they make. The system is broke. It’s just—it’s not fair” (167). Luciana recognizes the ways in which America’s economic system is designed to keep those on the bottom down, and it becomes difficult for her to imagine a way out. Children in households facing economic hardship are three times more likely to be victims of parental neglect, often due to parental exhaustion, parental coping mechanisms such as drinking or gambling, or demands that render the parent absent from the home (Lefebvre et al., “Examining the Relationship between Economic Hardship and Child Maltreatment Using Data from the Ontario Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect.” National Library of Medicine, 2017). These children are more likely to be left unsupervised, as Rex often is with his younger brother Ford. As such, Rex often assumes a caretaker role in his mother’s place.