[QuantumGravy]

Vicious cycle / feedback loop.

I recall there being a few studies suggesting that being poor can lead to poor decision making, and I certainly agree that poor decision making reinforces negative outcomes such as credit card debt. Thus they are individually responsible for what they've done, but the impoverished middle-class as a whole shouldn't be blamed for where they're headed.

Poverty Impedes Cognitive Function

http://science.sciencemag.org/content/341/6149/976