You can’t be so categorical in relation to poor people and assume that all poor people are cabbage rolls. I live in a country where people with higher education trade in the market to feed their families. We have such a situation when a simple barista in a cafe earns three times more than the chief engineer at the enterprise. Moreover, people who work hard do not always receive their miserable salary on time, while people sitting in offices at the computer earn tens of times more and still receive bonuses several times a month. Therefore, it all depends on the circumstances and all that surrounds us.
Generalizations are always unfair to many of the people to which those generalizations are being applied, the truth is that poverty comes with a lot of limitations and this hinders the development of people to the point they cannot get out of that state of poverty, so while there is no doubt there are many that are simply incapable no matter what to make a better life for themselves, there are many others that were not given the tools to escape it.
And when you consider this we can easily see why a good education system is a must if you want to help people to get out of poverty, that way the individuals that are capable to take better decisions will eventually become more productive and become middle class.
